premium rates

premium rates Sec. 4006. (a)(1) The corporation shall prescribe such insurance premium rates and such coverage schedules for the application of those rates as may be necessary to provide sufficient revenue to the fund for the corporation to carry out its functions under this title. The premium rates charged by the corporation for any period shall be uniform for all plans, other than multiemployer plans insured by the corporation, with respect to basic benefits guaranteed by it under section 4022, and shall be uniform for all multiemployer plans with respect to basic benefits guaranteed by it under such section. The premium rates charged by the corporation for any period for non-basic benefits guaranteed by it shall be uniform by category of non-basic benefit guaranteed, shall be based on the risk insured in each category, and shall reflect the experience of the corporation (including reasonably anticipated experience) in guaranteeing such benefits. (2) The corporation shall maintain separate coverage schedules for— (A) basic benefits guaranteed by it under section 4022 for— (i) plans which are multiemployer plans, and (ii) plans which are not multiemployer plans, 88 Stat. 1011 (B) employers insured under section 4023 against liability under subtitle D of this title, and (C) non-basic benefits. Except as provided in paragraph (3), the corporation may revise such schedules whenever it determines that revised rates are necessary, but a revised schedule described in subparagraph (A) shall apply only to plan years beginning more than 30 days after the date on which the Congress approves such revised schedule by a concurrent resolution. (3) Except as provided in paragraph (4), the rate for all plans for benefits guaranteed under section 4022 (other than non-basic benefits) with respect to plan years ending no more than 35 months after the effective date of this title is — (A) in the case of each plan which is not a multiemployer plan, an amount equal to one dollar for each individual who is a participant in such plan at any time during the plan year; and (B) in the case of a multiemployer plan, an amount equal to fifty cents for each individual who is a participant in such plan at any time during such plan year. The rate applicable under this paragraph to any plan the plan year of which does not begin on the date of enactment of this Act is a fraction of the rate described in the preceding sentence, the numerator of which is the number of months which end before the date on which the new plan year commences and the denominator of which is 12. The corporation is authorized to prescribe regulations under which the rate described in subparagraph (B) will not apply to the same participant in any multiemployer plan more than once for any plan year. (4) Upon notification filed with the corporation not less than 60 days after the date on which the corporation publishes the rates applicable under paragraph (5), at the election of a plan the rate applicable to that plan with respect to the second full plan year to which this section applies beginning after the date of enactment of this Act shall be the greater of — (A) an alternative rate determined under paragraph (5), or (B) one-half of the rate applicable to the plan under paragraph (3). In the case of a multiemployer plan, the rate prescribed by this paragraph (at the election of a plan) for the second full plan year is also the applicable rate for plan years succeeding the second full plan year and ending before the full plan year first commencing after December 31, 1977. (5) In carrying out its authority under paragraph (1) to establish premium rates and bases for basic benefits guaranteed under section 4022 the corporation shall establish such rates and bases in coverage schedules for plan years beginning 24 months or more after the date of enactment of this Act in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph. The corporation shall publish the rate schedules first applicable under this paragraph in the Federal Register not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act. (A) The corporation may establish annual premiums composed of — (i) a rate applicable to the excess, if any, of the present value of the basic benefits of the plan which are guaranteed over the value of the assets of the plan, not in excess of 0.1 percent for plans which are not multiemployer plans and not in excess of 0.025 percent for multiemployer plans, and (ii) an additional charge based on the rate applicable to the present value of the basic benefits of the plan which are guaranteed, determined separately for multiemployer plans and for plans which are not multiemployer plans. 88 Stat. 1012 The rate for the additional charge referred to in clause (ii) shall be set by the corporation for every year at a level (determined separately for multiemployer plans and for plans which are not multiemployer plans) which the corporation estimates will yield total revenue approximately equal to the total revenue to be derived by the corporation from the premiums referred to in clause (i) of this subparagraph. (B) The corporation may establish annual premiums based on— (i) the number of participants in a plan, but such premium rates shall not exceed the rates described in paragraph (3), (ii) unfunded basic benefits guaranteed under this title, but such premium rates shall not exceed the limitations applicable under subparagraph (A)(i), or (iii) total guaranteed basic benefits, but such premium rates may not exceed the rates determined under subparagraph (A)(ii). If the corporation uses 2 or more of the rate bases described in this subparagraph, the premium rates shall be designed to produce approximately equal amounts of aggregate premium revenue from each of the rate bases used. (6) The corporation shall by regulation define the terms “value of the assets” and “present value of the benefits of the plan which are guaranteed” in a manner consistent with the purposes of this title and the provisions of this section. (b)(1) In order to place a revised coverage schedule (other than a schedule described in subsection (a)(2)(B) or (C) in effect, the corporation shall transmit the proposed schedule, its proposed effective date, and the reasons for its proposal to the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives, and to the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare of the Senate. (2) The succeeding paragraphs of this subsection are enacted by Congress as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, and as such they shall be deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively, but applicable only with respect to the procedure to be followed in that House in the case of resolutions described in paragraph (3). They shall supersede other rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent therewith. They are enacted with full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner and to the same extent as in the case of any rule of that House. (3) For the purpose of the succeeding paragraphs of this subsection, “resolution” means only a concurrent resolution, the matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: “That the Congress favors the proposed revised coverage schedule transmitted to Congress by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation on ——.”, the blank space therein being filled with the date on which the corporation’s message proposing the rate was delivered. (4) A resolution shall be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare of the Senate. (5) If a committee to which has been referred a resolution has not reported it before the expiration of 10 calendar days after its introduction, it shall then (but not before) be in order to move to discharge the committee from further consideration of that resolution, or to discharge the committee from further consideration of any other 88 Stat. 1013 resolution with respect to the proposed adjustment which has been referred to the committee. The motion to discharge may be made only by a person favoring the resolution, shall be highly privileged (except that it may not be made after the committee has reported a resolution with respect to the same proposed rate), and debate thereon shall be limited to not more than 1 hour, to be divided equally between those favoring and those opposing the resolution. An amendment to the motion is not in order, and it is not in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to. If the motion to discharge is agreed to or disagreed to, the motion may not be renewed, nor may another motion to discharge the committee be made with respect to any other resolution with respect to the same proposed rate. (6) When a committee has reported, or has been discharged from further consideration of a resolution, it is at any time thereafter in order (even though a previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed to) to move to proceed to the consideration of the resolution. The motion is highly privileged and is not debatable. An amendment to the motion is not in order, and it is not in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to. Debate on the resolution shall be limited to not more than 10 hours, which shall be divided equally between those favoring and those opposing the resolution. A motion further to limit debate is not debatable. An amendment to, or motion to recommit, the resolution is not in order, and it is not in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the resolution is agreed to or disagreed to. (7) Motions to postpone, made with respect to the discharge from committee, or the consideration of, a resolution and motions to proceed to the consideration of other business shall be decided without debate. Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to the application of the rules of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, to the procedure relating to a resolution shall be decided without debate.