Work Without Worry Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4003 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to eliminate work disincentives for childhood disability beneficiaries. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 17, 2021 Mr. LARSON of Connecticut (for himself, Mr. REED, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. SUOZZI, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. ESTES, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mrs. MILLER of West Virginia, Mr. HERN, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. RICE of South Carolina, and Mr. WENSTRUP) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4003.IH H4003 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4003 IH SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF WORK DISINCENTIVE FOR CHILD- 1 HOOD DISABILITY BENEFICIARIES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(d) of the Social Secu- 3 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)) is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘is 5 under a disability (as defined in section 223(d)) 6 which began before he attained the age of 22, and’’ 7 and inserting the following: ‘‘is under a disability (as 8 defined in section 223(d)), and— 9 ‘‘(I) the physical or mental im- 10 pairment (or combination of impair- 11 ments) that is the basis for the find- 12 ing of disability began before the child 13 attained the age of 22 (or is of such 14 a type that can reasonably be pre- 15 sumed to have begun before the child 16 attained the age of 22, as determined 17 by the Commissioner), and 18 ‘‘(II) the impairment or combina- 19 tion of impairments could have been 20 the basis for a finding of disability 21 (without regard to whether the child 22 was actually engaged in substantial 23 gainful activity) before the child at- 24 tained age 22, and’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4003.IH H4003 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4003 IH (2) by adding at the end the following new 1 paragraphs: 2 ‘‘(11)(A) In the case of a child described in 3 subparagraph (B)(ii) of paragraph (1) who— 4 ‘‘(i) has not attained early retirement age 5 (as defined in section 216(l)(2)); 6 ‘‘(ii) has filed an application for child’s in- 7 surance benefits; and 8 ‘‘(iii) is insured for disability benefits (as 9 determined under section 223(c)(1)) at the time 10 of such filing, 11 such application shall be deemed to be an applica- 12 tion for both child’s insurance benefits under this 13 subsection and disability insurance benefits under 14 section 223. 15 ‘‘(B) In the case of a child described in sub- 16 paragraph (B)(ii) of paragraph (1) who— 17 ‘‘(i) has attained early retirement age (as 18 defined in section 216(l)(2)); 19 ‘‘(ii) has filed an application for child’s in- 20 surance benefits; and 21 ‘‘(iii) is a fully insured individual (as de- 22 fined in section 214(a)) at the time of such fil- 23 ing, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4003.IH H4003 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4003 IH such application shall be deemed to be an applica- 1 tion for both child’s insurance benefits under this 2 subsection and old-age insurance benefits under sec- 3 tion 202(a). 4 ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in the 5 case of a child described in subparagraph (A) or 6 (B), if, at the time of filing an application for child’s 7 insurance benefits, the amount of the monthly old- 8 age or disability insurance benefit to which the child 9 would be entitled is greater than the amount of the 10 monthly child’s insurance benefit to which the child 11 would be entitled, the child shall not be entitled to 12 a child’s insurance benefit based on such application. 13 ‘‘(D) For purposes of subparagraph (C), the 14 amount of the monthly old-age or disability benefit 15 to which the child would be entitled shall be deter- 16 mined— 17 ‘‘(i) without regard to the primary insur- 18 ance amount calculation described section 19 215(a)(7); and 20 ‘‘(ii) before application of section 224. 21 ‘‘(12) For purposes of paragraph (1)(B)(ii), a 22 child shall not be required to be continuously under 23 a disability during the period between the date that 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4003.IH H4003 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4003 IH the disability began and the date that the applica- 1 tion for child’s insurance benefits is filed.’’. 2 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3 this section shall apply to applications filed on or after 4 the date that is 24 months after the date of the enactment 5 of this section. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4003.IH H4003 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS