S.Amdt. 136

SA 136. Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Booker, Mr. Brown,
Mr. Carper, Mr. Van Hollen, and Ms. Warren) submitted an amendment
intended to be proposed by him to the concurrent resolution S. Con.
Res. 3, setting forth the congressional budget for the United States
Government for fiscal year 2017 and setting forth the appropriate
budgetary levels for fiscal years 2018 through 2026; which was ordered
to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of title IV, add the following:

SEC. 4__. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST REDUCING ACCESS TO, OR
AFFORDABILITY OF, HEALTH CARE SERVICES FOR
MINORITIES AND OTHER POPULATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN
HISTORICALLY SUBJECT TO DISCRIMINATION.

(a) Point of Order.--It shall not be in order in the Senate
to consider any bill, joint resolution, motion, amendment,
amendment between the Houses, or conference report that, as
determined by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office, would reduce access to, or affordability of, health
care services for minorities and other populations that have
been historically subject to discrimination, including
American Indians and Alaskan Natives, Asian Americans,
African Americans, Latino Americans, and Native Hawaiians or
other Pacific Islanders, by reversing the significant gains
in access to and affordability of health care services made
by the Affordable Care Act, including--
(1) the expansion of Medicaid coverage to low-income
Americans with incomes up to 138 percent of the Federal
poverty level in the States that have implemented the
Medicaid expansion, benefitting 51 percent of American
Indians and Alaska Natives, 32 percent of African Americans,
26 percent of Asian Americans, and 25 percent of Latino
Americans; and
(2) the establishment of financial assistance, including
premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions, allowing 19
percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives, 23 percent of
African Americans, 18 percent of Asian Americans, and 16
percent of Latino Americans to gain access to essential
health care coverage.
(b) Waiver and Appeal.--Subsection (a) may be waived or
suspended in the Senate only by an affirmative vote of three-
fifths of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. An affirmative
vote of three-fifths of the Members of the Senate, duly
chosen and sworn, shall be required to sustain an appeal of
the ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under
subsection (a).
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