PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jul 20, 2006
Catastrophic Health Coverage Promotion Act - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish demonstration projects to provide health care coverage to individuals who: (1) are not eligible for Medicaid or Medicare benefits and have exceeded $10,500 in out-of-pocket health care costs in a year or an adjusted amount based on the average out-of-pocket costs of individuals with catastrophic illnesses in a state for the year; or (2) were receiving Medicare or Medicaid benefits but who have exhausted their eligibility and any additional private health insurance coverage. Directs the Secretary, in designing such demonstration projects, to use: (1) state risk pools; (2) reinsurance mechanisms for small businesses; (3) public or private arrangements for the provision of affordable health insurance coverage to cover catastrophic health care expenses; and (4) any combination of such arrangements.
Requires the Secretary to establish demonstration projects to provide health insurance coverage for catastrophic health benefits to individuals who do not have health insurance coverage. Directs the Secretary, in designing such demonstration projects, to: (1) use a catastrophic health insurance product administered by private health insurance plans with a deductible indexed to income level or an adjusted deductible amount based on average out-of-pocket costs; and (2) subsidize such catastrophic coverage and allow subsidies on a sliding scale to offer an affordable product for individuals earning below 200% of the federal poverty level.
Establishes evaluation requirements for the projects.
People & committees
Sen. Smith, Gordon H. [R-OR] · R–OR
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8060)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 15, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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