The finance committee of the U.S. Senate adopted the Hire More Heroes Act of 2013 Wednesday, a measure that would allow businesses to exclude veterans from their employee count for purposes of meeting certain requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The legislation was approved last March by the House by a vote of 406-1. But the Senate failed to take action on it in 2014. The House passed it unanimously Jan. 6.

The act specifies that veterans who receive health coverage through the federal government can be subtracted from an employer’s list of workers, which would, in theory, help some small businesses stay under the 50-employee trigger point that requires them to provide health coverage. The bill was created as an incentive for businesses to hire and retain veterans.

According to news sources, 8 million veterans receive their health insurance through the U.S. Veterans Administration.

"Quite simply, passing this legislation is something we can do that will help our nation’s veterans find needed jobs as well as help the small businesses that want to hire them,” finance committee chair U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch said in a statement.

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