Medicare Economic Security Solutions Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 480 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to limit the penalty for late enrollment under part B of the Medicare Program to 15 percent and twice the period of no enrollment, and to exclude periods of COBRA, retiree, and VA coverage from such late enrollment penalty. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 25, 2021 Ms. PORTER (for herself, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. PAPPAS, Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. DEAN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. WELCH, Mrs. LURIA, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. RYAN, Mrs. KIM of California, and Mr. LARSON of Connecticut) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be sub- sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to limit the penalty for late enrollment under part B of the Medicare Program to 15 percent and twice the period of no enrollment, and to exclude periods of COBRA, retiree, and VA coverage from such late enrollment pen- alty. VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H480.IH H480 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 480 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medicare Economic 4 Security Solutions Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LIMITING MEDICARE PART B LATE ENROLLMENT 6 PENALTY TO 15 PERCENT AND TWICE THE 7 PERIOD OF NO ENROLLMENT. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The first sentence of section 9 1839(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395r(b)) 10 is amended by striking ‘‘10 percent of the monthly pre- 11 mium so determined for each full 12 months’’ and insert- 12 ing ‘‘15 percent of the monthly premium so determined 13 for premiums paid during a period equal to twice the num- 14 ber of months in each of the full periods of 12 months’’. 15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1818 of 16 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–2) is amended— 17 (1) in subsection (c)(6), by striking ‘‘and shall 18 only apply to premiums paid during a period equal 19 to twice the number of months in the full 12-month 20 periods described in that section and’’; and 21 (2) in subsection (g)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘by sub- 22 stituting’’ and all that follows and inserting the fol- 23 lowing: ‘‘by substituting ‘section 1818 (without any 24 increase resulting from the application of section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H480.IH H480 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 480 IH 1839(b) to such section 1818)’ for ‘section 1839 1 (without any increase under subsection (b) there- 2 of)’.’’. 3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 5 this section shall apply to premiums paid for months 6 beginning after the end of the 90-day period begin- 7 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 8 (2) CLARIFICATION.—In applying these amend- 9 ments, months (before, during, or after the month in 10 which this Act is enacted) in which an individual 11 was or is required to pay an increased premium shall 12 be taken into account in determining the month in 13 which the premium will no longer be subject to an 14 increase. 15 SEC. 3. EXCLUSION OF PERIODS OF COBRA, RETIREE, AND 16 VA COVERAGE FROM MEDICARE PART B 17 LATE ENROLLMENT PENALTY. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The second sentence of section 19 1839(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395r(b)) 20 is amended— 21 (1) by striking ‘‘by reason of the individual’s 22 (or the individual’s spouse’s) current employment’’; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H480.IH H480 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 480 IH (2) by inserting ‘‘or months for which the indi- 1 vidual can demonstrate that the individual had cov- 2 erage under chapter 17 of title 38, United States 3 Code’’ before the period at the end. 4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 5 subsection (a) shall apply to premiums paid for months 6 beginning after the end of the 90-day period beginning 7 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 8 SEC. 4. SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD FOR INDIVIDUALS 9 WHOSE COBRA OR RETIREE COVERAGE TER- 10 MINATES. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1837(i) of the Social Se- 12 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395p(i)) is amended— 13 (1) in the first sentence of paragraph (1), by 14 striking ‘‘by reason of the individual’s (or the indi- 15 vidual’s spouse’s) current employment status’’ in 16 subparagraph (A); 17 (2) in the first sentence of paragraph (2) by 18 striking ‘‘by reason of the individual’s (or the indi- 19 vidual’s spouse’s) current employment status’’ each 20 place it appears in subparagraphs (B) and (C); and 21 (3) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking ‘‘by reason 22 of current employment status’’. 23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 24 subsection (a) shall apply to terminations of coverage oc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H480.IH H480 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 480 IH curring after the end of the 90-day period beginning on 1 the date of the enactment of this Act. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:40 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H480.IH H480 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS