S.Amdt. 3057

SA 3057. Mr. THUNE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 3474, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers to exempt employees with health coverage under TRICARE or the Veterans Administration from being taken into account for purposes of the employer mandate under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end, add the following:

TITLE _--OTHER PROVISIONS

SEC. _01. LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED INDIVIDUALS NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT FOR EMPLOYER HEALTH CARE COVERAGE MANDATE.

(a) In General.--Paragraph (4) of section 4980H(c) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(C) Exception for long-term unemployed individuals.--

“(i) In general.--The term ‘full-time employee' shall not include any individual who is a long-term unemployed individual with respect to such employer.

“(ii) Long-term unemployed individual.--For purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘long-term unemployed individual' means, with respect to any employer, an individual who--

“(I) begins employment with such employer after the date of the enactment of this subparagraph, and

“(II) has been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, as determined by the Secretary of Labor, immediately before the date such employment begins.”.

(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply to months beginning after December 31, 2013.