H.R. 973 — Introduced in House

I 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 973 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 5, 2013 Mr. Sensenbrenner (for himself, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Palazzo, Mr. Harper, Mr. Bachus, Mr. King of Iowa, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, Mr. Mulvaney, Mr. Huizenga of Michigan, Mr. Ribble, Mr. Duncan of Tennessee, Mr. Carter, Mr. Nugent, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Petri, Mr. Amodei, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Westmoreland, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Black, Mr. Marino, Mr. Gingrey of Georgia, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Walberg, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Forbes, and Mr. Duffy) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means and Education and the Workforce, 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 exempt employers from any excise tax and certain suits and penalties in the case of a failure of a group health plan to provide coverage to which an employer objects on the basis of religious belief or moral conviction. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Religious Freedom Tax Repeal Act of 2013. 2. Group health plan requirement excise tax exception for religious or moral opposition to coverage Section 4980D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g) and by inserting after subsection (e) the following new subsection: (f) Exception for religious or moral opposition to certain coverage No tax shall be imposed on a failure of a group health plan to meet the requirements of section 2713(a)(4) of the Public Health Service Act, as such section applies by operation of section 9815, in the case of any failure to provide coverage to which an employer with respect to such plan is opposed by reason of adherence to a religious belief or moral conviction. . 3. No authority under ERISA to enforce requirement for group health plans to provide coverage to which an employer objects on religious or moral grounds Section 502(b) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1132(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: (4) The Secretary may not bring an action to enforce any requirement to provide coverage under section 2713(a)(4) of the Public Health Service Act, as such section applies by operation of section 715(a) of this title, against a plan if an employer with respect to such plan is opposed to such coverage by reason of adherence to a religious belief or moral conviction. . 4. No penalties under the Public Health Service Act for group health plans not providing coverage to which an employer objects on religious or moral grounds Section 2713 of the Public Health Service Act is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (d) Exception for religious or moral opposition to certain coverage The provisions of subsections (a)(2) and (b) of section 2723 shall not apply with respect to any failure of a group health plan of an employer or group health insurance coverage offered in connection with such a plan to meet any requirement under subsection (a)(4) insofar as such requirement relates to providing coverage to which an employer is opposed on the basis of religious belief or moral conviction. .