26 U.S.C. § 9703
Section 9703 · Plan benefits
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 27 court decisions — leading case Holland v. Big River Minerals Corp. (1999)
Most recently applied in United States Pipe and Foundry Company LLC v. Michael H. Holland (May 2022)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Each eligible beneficiary of the Combined Fund shall receive—
(1) health benefits described in subsection (b), and
(2) in the case of an eligible beneficiary described in subsection (f)(1), death benefits coverage described in subsection (c).
(1) In general
The trustees of the Combined Fund shall provide health care benefits to each eligible beneficiary by enrolling the beneficiary in a health care services plan which undertakes to provide such benefits on a prepaid risk basis. The trustees shall utilize all available plan resources to ensure that, consistent with paragraph (2), coverage under the managed care system shall to the maximum extent feasible be substantially the same as (and subject to the same limitations of) coverage provided under the 1950 UMWA Benefit Plan and the 1974 UMWA Benefit Plan as of January 1, 1992.
(2) Plan payment rates
(A) In general
The trustees of the Combined Fund shall negotiate payment rates with the health care services plans described in paragraph (1) for each plan year which are in amounts which—
(i) vary as necessary to ensure that beneficiaries in different geographic areas have access to a uniform level of health benefits; and
(ii) result in aggregate payments for such plan year from the Combined Fund which do not exceed the total premium payments required to be paid to the Combined Fund under section 9704(a) for the plan year, adjusted as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C).
(B) Reductions
The amount determined under subparagraph (A)(ii) for any plan year shall be reduced—
(i) by the aggregate death benefit premiums determined under section 9704(c) for the plan year, and
(ii) by the amount reserved for plan administration under subsection (d).
(C) Increases
The amount determined under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be increased—
(i) by any reduction in the total premium payments required to be paid under section 9704(a) by reason of transfers described in section 9705,
(ii) by any carryover to the plan year from any preceding plan year which—
(I) is derived from amounts described in section 9704(e)(3)(B)(i), and
(II) the trustees elect to use to pay benefits for the current plan year, and
(iii) any interest earned by the Combined Fund which the trustees elect to use to pay benefits for the current plan year.
(3) Qualified providers
The trustees of the Combined Fund shall not enter into an agreement under paragraph (1) with any provider of services which is of a type which is required to be certified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services when providing services under title XVIII of the Social Security Act unless the provider is so certified.
(4) Effective date
Benefits shall be provided under paragraph (1) on and after February 1, 1993.
(1) In general
The trustees of the Combined Fund shall provide death benefits coverage to each eligible beneficiary described in subsection (f)(1) which is identical to the benefits provided under the 1950 UMWA Pension Plan or 1974 UMWA Pension Plan, whichever is applicable, on July 20, 1992. Such coverage shall be provided on and after February 1, 1993.
(2) Termination of coverage
The 1950 UMWA Pension Plan and the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan shall each be amended to provide that death benefits coverage shall not be provided to eligible beneficiaries on and after February 1, 1993. This paragraph shall not prohibit such plans from subsequently providing death benefits not described in paragraph (1).
The trustees of the Combined Fund may reserve for each plan year, for use in payment of the administrative costs of the Combined Fund, an amount not to exceed 5 percent of the premiums to be paid to the Combined Fund under section 9704(a) during the plan year.
The Combined Fund shall not enroll any individual who is not receiving benefits under the 1950 UMWA Benefit Plan or the 1974 UMWA Benefit Plan as of July 20, 1992.
For purposes of this subchapter, the term “eligible beneficiary” means an individual who—
(1) is a coal industry retiree who, on July 20, 1992, was eligible to receive, and receiving, benefits from the 1950 UMWA Benefit Plan or the 1974 UMWA Benefit Plan, or
(2) on such date was eligible to receive, and receiving, benefits in either such plan by reason of a relationship to such retiree.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
The Social Security Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), is act Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, 49 Stat. 620, as amended. Title XVIII of the Act is classified generally to subchapter XVIII (§1395 et seq.) of chapter 7 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 1305 of Title 42 and Tables.