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1 section 151 of the America’s Affordable Health
2 Choices Act of 2009, and
3 ‘‘(B) the health coverage participation re-
4 quirements shall be deemed to be included as
5 terms and conditions of such plan.
6 ‘‘(2) PERIODIC INVESTIGATIONS TO DETERMINE

7 COMPLIANCE WITH HEALTH COVERAGE PARTICIPA-

8 TION REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall regu-

9 larly audit a representative sampling of employers
10 and conduct investigations and other activities with
11 respect to such sampling of employers so as to dis-
12 cover noncompliance with the health coverage par-
13 ticipation requirements in connection with such em-
14 ployers (during any period with respect to which an
15 election under subsection (a) is in effect). The Sec-
16 retary shall communicate findings of noncompliance
17 made by the Secretary under this subsection to the
18 Secretary of the Treasury and the Health Choices
19 Commissioner. The Secretary shall take such timely
20 enforcement action as appropriate to achieve compli-
21 ance.
22 ‘‘(c) HEALTH COVERAGE PARTICIPATION REQUIRE-
23 MENTS.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘health
24 coverage participation requirements’ means the require-
25 ments of part 1 of subtitle B of title III of division A

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1 of the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
2 (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this section).
3 ‘‘(d) SEPARATE ELECTIONS.—Under regulations pre-
4 scribed by the Secretary, separate elections may be made
5 under subsection (a) with respect to full-time employees
6 and employees who are not full-time employees.
7 ‘‘(e) TERMINATION OF ELECTION IN CASES OF SUB-
8 STANTIAL NONCOMPLIANCE.—The Secretary may termi-
9 nate the election of any employer under subsection (a) if
10 the Secretary (in coordination with the Health Choices
11 Commissioner) determines that such employer is in sub-
12 stantial noncompliance with the health coverage participa-
13 tion requirements and shall refer any such determination
14 to the Secretary of the Treasury as appropriate.
15 ‘‘(f) ENFORCEMENT OF HEALTH COVERAGE PAR-
16 TICIPATION REQUIREMENTS.—
17 ‘‘(1) CIVIL PENALTIES.—In the case of any em-
18 ployer who fails (during any period with respect to
19 which the election under subsection (a) is in effect)
20 to satisfy the health coverage participation require-
21 ments with respect to any employee, the Secretary
22 may assess a civil penalty against the employer of
23 $100 for each day in the period beginning on the
24 date such failure first occurs and ending on the date
25 such failure is corrected.

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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT OF PENALTY.—

2 ‘‘(A) PENALTY NOT TO APPLY WHERE

3 FAILURE NOT DISCOVERED EXERCISING REA-

4 SONABLE DILIGENCE.—No penalty shall be as-

5 sessed under paragraph (1) with respect to any
6 failure during any period for which it is estab-
7 lished to the satisfaction of the Secretary that
8 the employer did not know, or exercising rea-
9 sonable diligence would not have known, that
10 such failure existed.
11 ‘‘(B) PENALTY NOT TO APPLY TO FAIL-

12 URES CORRECTED WITHIN 30 DAYS.—No pen-

13 alty shall be assessed under paragraph (1) with
14 respect to any failure if—
15 ‘‘(i) such failure was due to reason-
16 able cause and not to willful neglect, and
17 ‘‘(ii) such failure is corrected during
18 the 30-day period beginning on the 1st
19 date that the employer knew, or exercising
20 reasonable diligence would have known,
21 that such failure existed.
22 ‘‘(C) OVERALL LIMITATION FOR UNINTEN-

23 TIONAL FAILURES.—In the case of failures

24 which are due to reasonable cause and not to
25 willful neglect, the penalty assessed under para-

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1 graph (1) for failures during any 1-year period
2 shall not exceed the amount equal to the lesser
3 of—
4 ‘‘(i) 10 percent of the aggregate
5 amount paid or incurred by the employer
6 (or predecessor employer) during the pre-
7 ceding taxable year for group health plans,
8 or
9 ‘‘(ii) $500,000.
10 ‘‘(3) ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF FAILURE

11 PRIOR TO ASSESSMENT.—Before a reasonable time

12 prior to the assessment of any penalty under para-
13 graph (1) with respect to any failure by an em-
14 ployer, the Secretary shall inform the employer in
15 writing of such failure and shall provide the em-
16 ployer information regarding efforts and procedures
17 which may be undertaken by the employer to correct
18 such failure.
19 ‘‘(4) ACTIONS TO ENFORCE ASSESSMENTS.—

20 The Secretary may bring a civil action in any Dis-

21 trict Court of the United States to collect any civil
22 penalty under this subsection.
23 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION WITH EXCISE TAX.—

24 Under regulations prescribed in accordance with sec-

25 tion 324 of the America’s Affordable Health Choices

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1 Act of 2009, the Secretary and the Secretary of the
2 Treasury shall coordinate the assessment of pen-
3 alties under paragraph (1) in connection with fail-
4 ures to satisfy health coverage participation require-
5 ments with the imposition of excise taxes on such
6 failures under section 4980H(b) of the Internal Rev-
7 enue Code of 1986 so as to avoid duplication of pen-
8 alties with respect to such failures.
9 ‘‘(6) DEPOSIT OF PENALTY COLLECTED.—Any

10 amount of penalty collected under this subsection

11 shall be deposited as miscellaneous receipts in the
12 Treasury of the United States.
13 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may promulgate
14 such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to
15 carry out the provisions of this section, in accordance with
16 section 324(a) of the America’s Affordable Health Choices
17 Act of 2009. The Secretary may promulgate any interim
18 final rules as the Secretary determines are appropriate to
19 carry out this section.’’.
20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
21 subsection (a) shall apply to periods beginning after De-
22 cember 31, 2012.

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1 SEC. 324. ADDITIONAL RULES RELATING TO HEALTH COV-

2 ERAGE PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS.

3 (a) ASSURING COORDINATION.—The officers con-

4 sisting of the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of the
5 Treasury, the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
6 and the Health Choices Commissioner shall ensure,
7 through the execution of an interagency memorandum of
8 understanding among such officers, that—
9 (1) regulations, rulings, and interpretations
10 issued by such officers relating to the same matter
11 over which two or more of such officers have respon-
12 sibility under subpart B of part 6 of subtitle B of
13 title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security
14 Act of 1974, section 4980H of the Internal Revenue
15 Code of 1986, and section 2793 of the Public Health
16 Service Act are administered so as to have the same
17 effect at all times; and
18 (2) coordination of policies relating to enforcing
19 the same requirements through such officers in
20 order to have a coordinated enforcement strategy
21 that avoids duplication of enforcement efforts and
22 assigns priorities in enforcement.
23 (b) MULTIEMPLOYER PLANS.—In the case of a group
24 health plan that is a multiemployer plan (as defined in
25 section 3(37) of the Employee Retirement Income Secu-
26 rity Act of 1974), the regulations prescribed in accordance
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1 with subsection (a) by the officers referred to in subsection
2 (a) shall provide for the application of the health coverage
3 participation requirements to the plan sponsor and con-
4 tributing sponsors of such plan.
5 TITLE IV—AMENDMENTS TO IN-
6 TERNAL REVENUE CODE OF
7 1986
8 Subtitle A—Shared Responsibility
9 PART 1—INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY

10 SEC. 401. TAX ON INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT ACCEPTABLE

11 HEALTH CARE COVERAGE.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 1 of the

13 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at
14 the end the following new part:
15 ‘‘PART VIII—HEALTH CARE RELATED TAXES

‘‘SUBPART A. TAX ON INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT ACCEPTABLE HEALTH CARE

COVERAGE.

16 ‘‘Subpart A—Tax on Individuals Without Acceptable

17 Health Care Coverage

‘‘Sec. 59B. Tax on individuals without acceptable health care coverage.

18 ‘‘SEC. 59B. TAX ON INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT ACCEPTABLE

19 HEALTH CARE COVERAGE.

20 ‘‘(a) TAX IMPOSED.—In the case of any individual

21 who does not meet the requirements of subsection (d) at
22 any time during the taxable year, there is hereby imposed
23 a tax equal to 2.5 percent of the excess of—

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1 ‘‘(1) the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross in-
2 come for the taxable year, over
3 ‘‘(2) the amount of gross income specified in
4 section 6012(a)(1) with respect to the taxpayer.
5 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—
6 ‘‘(1) TAX LIMITED TO AVERAGE PREMIUM.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The tax imposed

8 under subsection (a) with respect to any tax-
9 payer for any taxable year shall not exceed the
10 applicable national average premium for such
11 taxable year.
12 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE NATIONAL AVERAGE

13 PREMIUM.—

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of

15 subparagraph (A), the ‘applicable national
16 average premium’ means, with respect to
17 any taxable year, the average premium (as
18 determined by the Secretary, in coordina-
19 tion with the Health Choices Commis-
20 sioner) for self-only coverage under a basic
21 plan which is offered in a Health Insur-
22 ance Exchange for the calendar year in
23 which such taxable year begins.
24 ‘‘(ii) FAILURE TO PROVIDE COVERAGE

25 FOR MORE THAN ONE INDIVIDUAL.—In the

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