PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
Congressional Research Service
Version 36 · Passed House amended · Jun 21, 2016
Small Business Health Care Relief Act of 2016
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and other laws to exempt qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) from certain requirements that apply to group health plans.
A qualified small employer HRA is offered by employers that have fewer than 50 full-time employees and do not offer group health plans to any of their employees. A qualified small employer HRA must:
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
be provided on the same terms to all eligible employees of the employer;
be funded solely by the employer without salary reduction contributions;
provide, after an employee provides proof of coverage, for the payment or reimbursement of medical expenses of the employee and family members; and
limit annual payments and reimbursements to specified dollar amounts.
HRAs that meet these requirements are not considered group health plans and are exempt from various requirements that apply to group health plans, including coverage and cost-sharing requirements. (Under current law, employers that sponsor group health plans that do not meet specified requirements are subject to an excise tax.)
Coverage and payments under a qualified HRA are excluded from gross income, unless the employee does not have minimum essential coverage for the month in which the medical care was provided.
Employers offering a qualified HRA must notify employees in advance regarding permitted benefits and report benefit information on W-2 forms and to health exchanges.
The bill sets forth requirements for determining whether an employee covered under an HRA is also eligible for premium subsidies under PPACA.
People & committees
Rep. Boustany, Charles W., Jr. [R-LA-3] · R–LA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 526.
Received in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4021-4022)
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H4021-4022)
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 5447.
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H4021-4024)
Mr. Boustany moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 493.
Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged.
Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged.
Committee on Education and the Workforce discharged.
Committee on Education and the Workforce discharged.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 114-634, Part I.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 114-634, Part I.
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Mar 23, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.5447 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.5447 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.5447 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.5447 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.