Work Without Worry Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2108 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to eliminate work disincentives for childhood disability beneficiaries. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 17, 2021 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. BROWN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Fi- nance A BILL To amend title II of the Social Security Act to eliminate work disincentives for childhood disability beneficiaries. 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 ‘‘Work Without Worry 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF WORK DISINCENTIVE FOR CHILD- 6 HOOD DISABILITY BENEFICIARIES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(d) of the Social Secu- 8 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:32 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2108.IS S2108 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2108 IS (1) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘is 1 under a disability (as defined in section 223(d)) 2 which began before he attained the age of 22, and’’ 3 and inserting the following: ‘‘is under a disability (as 4 defined in section 223(d)), and— 5 ‘‘(I) the physical or mental im- 6 pairment (or combination of impair- 7 ments) that is the basis for the find- 8 ing of disability began before the child 9 attained the age of 22 (or is of such 10 a type that can reasonably be pre- 11 sumed to have begun before the child 12 attained the age of 22, as determined 13 by the Commissioner), and 14 ‘‘(II) the impairment or combina- 15 tion of impairments could have been 16 the basis for a finding of disability 17 (without regard to whether the child 18 was actually engaged in substantial 19 gainful activity) before the child at- 20 tained age 22, and’’; and 21 (2) by adding at the end the following new 22 paragraphs: 23 ‘‘(11)(A) In the case of a child described in 24 subparagraph (B)(ii) of paragraph (1) who— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:32 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2108.IS S2108 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2108 IS ‘‘(i) has not attained early retirement age 1 (as defined in section 216(l)(2)); 2 ‘‘(ii) has filed an application for child’s in- 3 surance benefits; and 4 ‘‘(iii) is insured for disability benefits (as 5 determined under section 223(c)(1)) at the time 6 of such filing; 7 such application shall be deemed to be an applica- 8 tion for both child’s insurance benefits under this 9 subsection and disability insurance benefits under 10 section 223. 11 ‘‘(B) In the case of a child described in sub- 12 paragraph (B)(ii) of paragraph (1) who— 13 ‘‘(i) has attained early retirement age (as 14 defined in section 216(l)(2)); 15 ‘‘(ii) has filed an application for child’s in- 16 surance benefits; and 17 ‘‘(iii) is a fully insured individual (as de- 18 fined in section 214(a)) at the time of such fil- 19 ing; 20 such application shall be deemed to be an applica- 21 tion for both child’s insurance benefits under this 22 subsection and old-age insurance benefits under sec- 23 tion 202(a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:32 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2108.IS S2108 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2108 IS ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in the 1 case of a child described in subparagraph (A) or 2 (B), if, at the time of filing an application for child’s 3 insurance benefits, the amount of the monthly old- 4 age or disability insurance benefit to which the child 5 would be entitled is greater than the amount of the 6 monthly child’s insurance benefit to which the child 7 would be entitled, the child shall not be entitled to 8 a child’s insurance benefit based on such application. 9 ‘‘(D) For purposes of subparagraph (C), the 10 amount of the monthly old-age or disability benefit 11 to which the child would be entitled shall be deter- 12 mined— 13 ‘‘(i) without regard to the primary insur- 14 ance amount calculation described section 15 215(a)(7); and 16 ‘‘(ii) before application of section 224. 17 ‘‘(12) For purposes of paragraph (1)(B)(ii), a 18 child shall not be required to be continuously under 19 a disability during the period between the date that 20 the disability began and the date that the applica- 21 tion for child’s insurance benefits is filed.’’. 22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 23 this section shall apply to applications filed on or after 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:32 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2108.IS S2108 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2108 IS the date that is 24 months after the date of the enactment 1 of this section. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:32 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2108.IS S2108 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS