S. 2570: Health Care Assurance Act of 2004
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S. 2570: Health Care Assurance Act of 2004
108th Congress · introduced 2004-06-23 · Health · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2004-06-23 · official record
- Who proposed it: Sen. Specter, Arlen [R-PA] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
Health Care Assurance Act of 2004
Plain summary
Health Care Assurance Act of 2004 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act to: (1) develop a target actuarial value for standard health care coverage offered by any plan or group or individual health insurance coverage; (2) specify how premiums for health care coverage are to be set; and (3) require health plans and issuers to disclose rating practices. Sets forth provisions governing the operation (including premium setting and enrollment) of qualified small employer purchasing groups, qualified association plans, church plans, multi-employer plans, plans maintained by rural electric cooperatives, and plans maintained by rural telephone cooperatives. Requires small employers to offer, but not contribute to, standard health care coverage. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose taxes on the failure of specified health insurance plans to comply with this Act. Sets forth provisions regarding "continuation coverage" (COBRA), including regarding deductibles, terminating coverage, length of coverage, and coverage of dependent children. Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) revise the definition of an eligible ''low-income child'' to mean a child whose family income is at or below 233 percent (currently, 200 percent) of the poverty line; and (2) authorize States to extend SCHIP coverage to include health care assistance for low-income parents and pregnant women. Increases the authorized appropriations for the Account for Medicare Integrity Program. Requires the Secretary to provide for reporting systems, training, education, and a national database to reduce medical errors. Establishes the Trust Fund for Medical Treatment Outcomes Research to be funded using taxes related to health insurance policies. Sets forth provisions regarding information technology, including regarding how the use of such technology can be encouraged. Requires the Secretary to educate the public about health care choices and to develop ways to improve advance directives and living wills. Amends the title XVIII (Medicare) of the SSA to increase the reimbursement rate for physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists. Requires the Secretary to establish programs to recruit high school or college students to careers in general medicine.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
What a vote does
A “Yea” vote
If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.
A “Nay” vote
If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.
PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).
What does this mean? (plain words)
Official text
Health Care Assurance Act of 2004
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
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The strongest published arguments
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Alternatives
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Specter, Arlen [R-PA] · 1 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
Cosponsors on this site
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (3)
- Appropriation
- Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
- Authorization
- A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
- Securities
- Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-108s2570.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/108/s>
Record fed-us-cong108-s2570 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong108 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong108