To allow certain State and local government employees to elect to treat employment as medicare qualified government employment for purposes of entitlement to Medicare coverage.

Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Commissioner of Social Security to: (1) establish procedures under which an eligible state or local government employee who is not otherwise covered under a state's voluntary agreement for coverage of state and local employees may make an irrevocable election to treat employment as Medicare qualified government employment; and so (2) extend to services performed by such employees entitlement to Medicare coverage under SSA title XVIII, including hospital insurance benefits, as well as coverage for end state renal disease (ESRD).

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to apply the Medicare portion of payroll taxes to state and local government employees making such an election.

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2618 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2618

To allow certain State and local government employees to elect to treat 
employment as medicare qualified government employment for purposes of 
                   entitlement to Medicare coverage.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 8, 2013

   Mr. Gene Green of Texas introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the 
   Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To allow certain State and local government employees to elect to treat 
employment as medicare qualified government employment for purposes of 
                   entitlement to Medicare coverage.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ABILITY FOR CERTAIN STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES TO 
              ELECT TO TREAT EMPLOYMENT AS MEDICARE QUALIFIED 
              GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT FOR PURPOSES OF ENTITLEMENT TO 
              MEDICARE COVERAGE.

    Section 210(p) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 410(p)) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3)(B), by inserting ``who has not made an 
        election under subject to paragraph (5) and'' after ``an 
        individual''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(5)(A) The Commissioner of Social Security shall establish 
procedures under which an eligible individual described in subparagraph 
(B) may, beginning on or after the date that is 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this paragraph, make an irrevocable election to 
extend the provisions of title XVIII, and sections 226 and 226A, to 
services performed by such individual as an employee of a State or 
political subdivision thereof in the same manner as such provisions 
would be extended to such individual if such State entered into (or 
modified) an agreement with the Commissioner pursuant to section 
218(n).
    ``(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), an eligible individual is 
an employee--
            ``(i) whose services without application of this paragraph 
        would not otherwise be treated as employment as that term 
        applies under section 210(p) by reason of paragraph (3) of such 
        section; and
            ``(ii) who is not otherwise covered under the State's 
        agreement under section 218.''.

SEC. 2. MEDICARE PORTION OF PAYROLL TAXES FOR STATE AND LOCAL 
              GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES WHO ELECT TO TREAT EMPLOYMENT AS 
              MEDICARE QUALIFIED GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (7) of section 3121(b) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of 
subparagraph (E), by inserting ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (F), 
and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(G) service included under election made under 
                section 210(p)(5) of the Social Security Act;''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to remuneration paid after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>