S.Amdt. 232

1. Rewrites section 303

   Replaces

   In S.Con.Res. 18 · Placed on Calendar Senate

   SEC. 303. RESERVE FUND FOR [inserted: HEALTHCARE COVERAGE FOR ]THE UNINSURED.

   [struck: In][inserted: If] the [struck: Senate, if the ]Committee on [struck: Finance or the Committee on ]Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions [inserted: or the Committee on Finance ]of the Senate reports a bill or joint resolution, [struck: if][inserted: or] an amendment [inserted: thereto ]is offered [struck: thereto, ]or [struck: if ]a conference report [inserted: thereon ]is submitted[struck: thereon], that[inserted: expands group healthcare coverage for uninsured individuals in a manner that]--

   Struck: (1) addresses health care costs, coverage, or care for the uninsured;

   Struck: (2)(A) provides safety net access to integrated and other health care services; or

   Struck: (B) increases the number of people with health insurance, provided that such increase is not obtained primarily as a result of increasing premiums for the currently insured; and

   Struck: (3) increases access to coverage through mechanisms that decrease the growth of health care costs, and may include tax- and market-based measures (such as tax credits, deductibility, regulatory reforms, consumer-directed initiatives, and other measures targeted to key segments of the uninsured, such as individuals without employer-sponsored coverage and college students and recent graduates), provided that the committee is within its allocation as provided under section 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the chairman of the Committee on the Budget may revise allocations of new budget authority and outlays, the revenue aggregates, and other appropriate aggregates to reflect such legislation, to the extent that such legislation would not increase the deficit for fiscal year 2006 and for the period of fiscal years 2006 through 2010.

   Inserted: (1) moves toward the goal of providing high quality healthcare coverage for every American, so that every American will have healthcare coverage at least as good as the coverage enjoyed by Members of Congress;

   Inserted: (2) reduces healthcare costs for working families and employers;

   Inserted: (3) significantly increases the number of people with high quality healthcare coverage;

   Inserted: (4) builds on the proven success of existing programs, such as the Children's Health Insurance Program, the medicaid program, and the medicare program; and

   Inserted: (5) is offset by increased revenues of not less than $60,000,000,000 derived from closing corporate tax loopholes and closing the tax gap;

   Inserted: the chairman of the Committee on the Budget shall revise committee allocations for the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions or the Committee on Finance and other appropriate budgetary aggregates and allocations of new budget authority and outlays by the amount provided by that measure for that purpose, but not to exceed $60,000,000,000 in new budget authority and $60,000,000,000 in outlays for the 5-fiscal year period beginning with fiscal year 2006, regardless of whether the committee is within its 302(a) allocations.

   Original wording

   Strike section 303 and insert the following:

Read automatically from the Congressional Record. Check the original before relying on it.

As printed