CDH Bills Pass House and Will Move to the Senate

On July 19, 2018, the House Rules Committee released two HSA-related bills (Rules Committee Prints 115-82 and 115-83) that re-packaged 10 of the 11 bills approved by the House Ways & Means Committee on July 12 into two separate bills.

On July 23, these bills (H.R.6199 and H.R.6311) were party-line approved 8-4 by the House Rules Committee. Two amendments were offered during the proceedings, both of which failed. As a result, the two bills moved on to the House floor for final passage vote on Wednesday, July 25, under a closed-rule process.

The bills were adopted by the House of Representatives on July 25, and they will move to the Senate for consideration later this year. The H.R.6199 vote was 277-142 (R: 231-1; D: 46-141) and the H.R.6311 vote was 242-176 (R:230-1; D: 12-175). Additionally, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) has prepared a revenue estimate you can click here to download. We will keep you apprised as we learn more about the timing of the Senate vote later this year.

What follows is a summary of the legislative package and high-level summary of each bill:

• The 11th bill approved by the Ways & Means Committee (H.R.4616), which would delay the Cadillac plan tax, was not included in the either approved bill.
• H.R.5963, a bill to delay the tax on health insurers (which was not considered by the Ways & Means Committee), was added to H.R.6311 by the House Rules Committee.

H.R.6199, as reported by the House Rules Committee (Print 115-82) – Rep. Lynn Jenkins’s (R-KS) Restoring Access to Medication and Modernizing Health Savings Accounts Act of 2018

• Allow first dollar coverage flexibility for High Deductible Health Plans (H.R.6301, as approved by the Ways & Means Committee)
• Modify the treatment of Direct Primary Care Service Arrangements so that such arrangements are not treated as a health plan that would disqualify an individual from contributing to an HSA, and allow HSA funds to be used tax-free to pay for periodic fees for DPC arrangements that do not exceed $150/month or $300/month in the case of families (H.R.6317, as approved by the Ways & Means Committee, with minor modifications)
• Allow certain health care services to be provided at employer on-site clinics or retail clinics without disqualifying an individual from contributing to an HSA (H.R.6305, as approved by the Ways & Means Committee)
• Allow contributions to an HSA under certain circumstances if a spouse has a health FSA (H.R.6305, as approved by the Ways & Means Committee)
• Reverse the Affordable Care Act's restriction that requires a prescription for tax-free reimbursement of over-the-counter medicines from HSAs, FSAs, HRAs, and Archer MSAs, and adds menstrual care products as a qualified medical expense for tax-free reimbursement from these accounts (H.R. 6199, as approved by the Ways & Means Committee)
• Allow certain qualified sports and fitness expenses to be treated as qualified medical expenses (H.R.6132, as approved by the Ways & Means Committee)

H.R.6311, as reported by the House Rules Committee (Print 115-83) – Rep. Peter Roskam’s (R-IL) Increasing Access to Lower Premium Plans and Expanding Health Savings Accounts Act of 2018

• Remove the $500 limit on health FSA amounts that can be carried forward to a future year (H.R.6313, as approved by the Ways & Means Committee)
• Allow HSA-eligible working seniors enrolled only in Medicare Part A to contribute to their HSAs (H.R.6309, as approved by the Ways & Means Committee)
• Increase the HSA contribution limits to the statutory limits on out-of-pocket expenses (H.R.6306, as approved by the Ways & Means Committee)
• Allow both spouses to make catch-up contributions to the same HSA (H.R.6306, as approved by the Ways & Means Committee)
• Allow HSA funds to be used tax-free for certain eligible expenses incurred before establishment of the HSA (H.R.6306, as approved by the Ways & Means Committee)
• Deem Bronze and Catastrophic plans as HSA-qualified plans; also allows anyone to purchase Catastrophic plans (H.R.6311, approved by the Ways & Means Committee)
• Delay the re-imposition of the tax on health insurers for an additional two years (H.R.5963, as introduced)