Commonsense Reporting Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to reporting of health care coverage information, to: (1) allow identification of dependents of the primary insured by name and date of birth, instead of taxpayer identification number, if the employer or health insurance issuer does not collect or maintain tax identification numbers for such dependents; and (2) allow an individual to refuse consent to receive tax information statements relating to health insurance coverage in electronic form.
Directs the Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on the processes necessary to develop a reporting system allowing employers to voluntarily provide information on health care coverage offered by such employers.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2176 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2176
To revise reporting requirements under the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act to preserve the privacy of individuals, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 27, 2014
Mr. Warner (for himself, Mr. Franken, Mr. Begich, Mr. Manchin, Mrs.
Shaheen, Ms. Heitkamp, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, and Ms. Klobuchar)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To revise reporting requirements under the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act to preserve the privacy of individuals, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Commonsense Reporting Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Reporting requirements under the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) should strike the
appropriate balance between sufficient reporting to enforce the
law and protecting the privacy of individuals.
(2) Protection of the primary insured individual and each
other individual covered under the policy, which should include
minimizing the transmittal of social security numbers, should
be a priority when implementing reporting requirements.
(3) The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue
Service should continue to work together with other departments
and agencies, including the Department of Health and Human
Services, the Department of Labor, and the Small Business
Administration, to streamline reporting and administrative
processes under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
These same agencies and departments should also work together
to identify ways to minimize compliance burdens on businesses,
insurance carriers, and individuals.
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF DEPENDENT PRIVACY.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (1) of section 6055(b) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following
flush sentence:
``For purposes of subparagraph (B)(i), in the case of an
individual other than the primary insured, if the health
insurance issuer or the employer does not collect or maintain
information on the TINs of such individuals (other than for
purposes of this section), the individual's name and date of
birth may be substituted for the name and TIN.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply
to returns the due date for which is after December 31, 2013.
SEC. 4. EMPLOYEE OPT-OUT.
(a) In General.--Subsection (d) of section 6056 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following
flush sentence:
``An individual shall be deemed to have consented to receive the
statement under this section in electronic form if such individual has
consented at any prior time, to a person required to furnish to such
individual any statement for use in filing the return of tax, to
receive such statement in electronic form, unless the individual
explicitly refuses such consent.''.
(b) Statements Relating to Health Insurance Coverage.--Subsection
(c) of section 6055 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) Electronic delivery.--An individual shall be deemed
to have consented to receive the statement under this
subsection in electronic form if such individual has consented
at any prior time to receive in electronic form any private
health information (such as electronic health records)
furnished to such individual by the person required to make
such statement, unless the individual explicitly refuses such
consent.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to statements the due date for which is after December 31, 2013.
SEC. 5. STUDY.
(a) In General.--The Department of the Treasury, in consultation
with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of
Labor, and the Small Business Administration, shall report to Congress
not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act on
the processes necessary to develop a prospective reporting system in
which an employer would be considered to have complied with section
6056 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for future reporting periods
if the employer provided information on a voluntary basis on the
affordability and value of the health coverage offered by such
employer, generally to whom it is offered, and the length of any
waiting period.
(b) Requirements.--The report under subsection (a) should address--
(1) the processes necessary to ensure that Exchanges could
access the general information described in subsection (a) to
assist in verifying eligibility determinations for advance
payment of the premium tax credits under section 36B of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the cost-sharing subsidies
under section 1402 of the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act (Public Law 111-148);
(2) guidance on how employers who provide this information
on a voluntary basis in advance may be considered exempt from
general reporting requirements under section 6056 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and should instead be required
only to provide individual reports to employees who have been
deemed eligible for advance payment of premium tax credits;
(3) any barriers that currently exist in data systems
maintained by the Department of Health and Human Services or
the Internal Revenue Service which would hinder the development
of such a verification system, and recommendations for
addressing such barriers;
(4) any statutory barriers that would prevent the
administration from implementing a voluntary prospective
reporting system and exempting employers who utilize such
system from general reporting requirements under such section
6056; and
(5) the costs to develop such a system.
(c) Open Comment Period.--After the submission of the report under
subsection (a) to Congress, there shall be an open comment period of
not less than 60 days for applicable employers and other interested
parties to respond to the contents of the report. All comments
submitted shall be accessible on a publicly available database.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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