Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Patient Opportunity Protection Act of 2015”.
Patient Opportunity Protection Act of 2015
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prevent the Secretary of Health and Human Services from limiting access to excepted benefits, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Treatment of hospital indemnity or other fixed indemnity insurance as excepted benefits
Section 2763 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–63) is amended—
in subsection (b), by striking “The requirements of” and inserting the following:
“(1) Exception—The requirements of”
by adding at the end the following:
“(2) Hospital indemnity or other fixed indemnity insurance—In applying paragraph (1), the Secretary shall not take any action (by regulation, guidance, policy statement, or otherwise) to require a hospital indemnity or other fixed indemnity insurance (as described in section 2791(c)(3)(B)) to be treated as an excepted benefit only if the benefits of the hospital indemnity or other fixed indemnity insurance are provided to an individual who—
“(A) has other health coverage that is minimum essential coverage within the meaning of section 5000A(f) of the Internal Revenue Code; or
“(B) is otherwise treated as having such minimum essential coverage.”
Sec. 3 No additional conditions for treatment as excepted benefit
Section 2791 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–91) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(f) No additional conditions for treatment as excepted benefit—In applying subsection (c), the Secretary shall not impose any additional condition that must be satisfied in order for benefits (or any combination thereof) to be treated as excepted benefits, including any condition that to be an excepted benefit the benefits must be provided only to individuals who have other health insurance coverage that is major medical coverage or is minimum essential coverage within the meaning of section 5000A(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.”
Sec. 4 Effective date
The amendments made by sections 2 and 3 shall take effect as if included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148), and any final rule, guidance, policy statement, or other action taken by the Secretary of Health and Human Services that is inconsistent with such amendments is null and void.