Stop the Wait Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2496 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to eliminate the Medicare and disability insurance benefits waiting periods for disabled individuals. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. SANDERS) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Finance A BILL To amend title II of the Social Security Act to eliminate the Medicare and disability insurance benefits waiting periods for disabled individuals. 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 ‘‘Stop the Wait Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2496.IS S2496 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2496 IS SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF DISABILITY WAITING PERIOD FOR 1 SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE 2 BENEFITS AND SURVIVING SPOUSE BENE- 3 FITS. 4 (a) ELIMINATION OF WAITING PERIOD FOR DIS- 5 ABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS.—Section 223 of the So- 6 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423) is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (a)— 8 (A) in paragraph (1), in the matter fol- 9 lowing subparagraph (E)— 10 (i) by striking ‘‘disability insurance 11 benefit (i) for each month’’ and all that 12 follows through ‘‘, or (ii)’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘disability insurance benefit’’; and 14 (ii) by striking ‘‘, but only if’’ and all 15 that follows through ‘‘under such dis- 16 ability’’; and 17 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘as 18 though he had attained age 62 in—’’ and all 19 that follows through ‘‘such disability insurance 20 benefits,’’ and inserting ‘‘as though the indi- 21 vidual had attained age 62 in the first month 22 for which the individual becomes entitled to 23 such disability insurance benefits,’’; and 24 (2) in subsection (c), by striking paragraph (2). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2496.IS S2496 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2496 IS (b) ELIMINATION OF WAITING PERIOD FOR SUR- 1 VIVING SPOUSE AND SURVIVING DIVORCED SPOUSE BEN- 2 EFITS.—Section 202 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 3 402) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (e)— 5 (A) in paragraph (1), in the matter fol- 6 lowing subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘begin- 7 ning with—’’ and all that follows through ‘‘on 8 such basis terminated,’’ and inserting ‘‘begin- 9 ning with the first month in which she becomes 10 so entitled to such insurance benefits’’; 11 (B) by striking paragraph (5); and 12 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (6) 13 through (8) as paragraphs (5) through (7); and 14 (2) in subsection (f)— 15 (A) in paragraph (1), in the matter fol- 16 lowing subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘begin- 17 ning with—’’ and all that follows through ‘‘on 18 such basis terminated,’’ and inserting ‘‘begin- 19 ning with the first month in which he becomes 20 so entitled to such insurance benefits’’; 21 (B) by striking paragraph (5); and 22 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (6) 23 through (8) as paragraphs (5) through (7). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2496.IS S2496 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2496 IS (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall apply with respect to applications for dis- 2 ability insurance benefits, widow’s insurance benefits, and 3 widower’s insurance benefits filed on or after the date of 4 the enactment of this Act. 5 SEC. 3. PHASE-OUT OF WAITING PERIOD FOR MEDICARE 6 DISABILITY BENEFITS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 226(b) of the Social Secu- 8 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 426(b)) is amended— 9 (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘, and has 10 for 24 calendar months been entitled to,’’ and insert- 11 ing ‘‘, and for not less than the waiting period (as 12 defined in subsection (j)) has been entitled to,’’; 13 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘, and has 14 been for not less than 24 months,’’ and inserting ‘‘, 15 and has been for not less than the waiting period (as 16 defined in subsection (j)),’’; 17 (3) in paragraph (2)(C)(ii), by striking ‘‘, in- 18 cluding the requirement that he has been entitled to 19 the specified benefits for 24 months,’’ and inserting 20 ‘‘, including the requirement that the individual has 21 been entitled to the specified benefits for the waiting 22 period (as defined in subsection (j)),’’; and 23 (4) in the flush matter following paragraph 24 (2)(C)(ii)(II)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2496.IS S2496 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2496 IS (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘for 1 each month beginning with the later of (I) July 2 1973 or (II) the twenty-fifth month of his enti- 3 tlement or status as a qualified railroad retire- 4 ment beneficiary described in paragraph (2), 5 and’’ and inserting ‘‘for each month beginning 6 with the first month after the month in which 7 the individual first satisfies paragraph (2), 8 and’’; 9 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 10 ‘‘the ‘twenty-fifth month of his entitlement’ re- 11 fers to the first month after the twenty-fourth 12 month of entitlement to specified benefits re- 13 ferred to in paragraph (2)(C) and’’; and 14 (C) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘, 15 but not in excess of 78 such months’’. 16 (b) SCHEDULE FOR PHASE-OUT OF WAITING PE- 17 RIOD.—Section 226 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 18 426) is amended by adding at the end the following new 19 subsection: 20 ‘‘(j) For purposes of subsection (b) (and for purposes 21 of section 1837(g)(1) of this Act and section 7(d)(2)(ii) 22 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974), the term ‘waiting 23 period’ means, with respect to an individual who first be- 24 comes entitled to benefits described in subparagraph (A) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2496.IS S2496 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2496 IS of subsection (b)(2), first achieves the status described in 1 subparagraph (B) of such subsection, or first becomes en- 2 titled to specified benefits referred to in subparagraph (C) 3 of such subsection in a month in— 4 ‘‘(1) calendar year 2020, 18 months; 5 ‘‘(2) calendar year 2021, 16 months; 6 ‘‘(3) calendar year 2022, 14 months; 7 ‘‘(4) calendar year 2023, 12 months; 8 ‘‘(5) calendar year 2024, 10 months; 9 ‘‘(6) calendar year 2025, 8 months; 10 ‘‘(7) calendar year 2026, 6 months; 11 ‘‘(8) calendar year 2027, 4 months; 12 ‘‘(9) calendar year 2028, 2 months; and 13 ‘‘(10) calendar year 2029 and each subsequent 14 year, 0 months.’’. 15 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 16 (1) MONTHS THAT COUNT TOWARDS WAITING 17 PERIOD.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 226(f) of the 19 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 426(f)) is 20 amended by striking ‘‘24 months’’ and inserting 21 ‘‘waiting period’’. 22 (B) SUNSET.—Effective January 1, 2029, 23 subsection (f) of section 226 of the Social Secu- 24 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 426) is repealed. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2496.IS S2496 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2496 IS (2) ELIMINATION OF 1-MONTH WAITING PERIOD 1 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH ALS.—Section 226(h)(1) of 2 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 426(h)(1)) is 3 amended by inserting ‘‘(or, beginning January 1, 4 2029, 0 months)’’ after ‘‘1 month’’. 5 (3) MEDICARE DESCRIPTION.—Section 1811(2) 6 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395c(2)) is amended by 7 striking ‘‘entitled for not less than 24 months’’ and 8 inserting ‘‘entitled for not less than the waiting pe- 9 riod (as defined in section 226(j))’’. 10 (4) MEDICARE COVERAGE.—Section 1837(g)(1) 11 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395p(g)(1)) is amended by 12 striking ‘‘of the later of (A) April 1973 or (B) the 13 third month before the 25th month of such entitle- 14 ment’’ and inserting ‘‘of the third month before the 15 first month following the waiting period (as defined 16 in section 226(j)) applicable under section 226(b)’’. 17 (5) RAILROAD RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—Section 18 7(d)(2)(ii) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 19 (45 U.S.C. 231f(d)(2)(ii)) is amended— 20 (A) by striking ‘‘, for not less than 24 21 months’’ and inserting ‘‘, for the waiting period 22 (as defined in section 226(j) of the Social Secu- 23 rity Act); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2496.IS S2496 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2496 IS (B) by striking ‘‘could have been entitled 1 for 24 calendar months, and’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘could have been entitled for the waiting period 3 (as defined in section 226(j) of the Social Secu- 4 rity Act), and’’. 5 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub- 6 section (c)(1)(B), the amendments made by this section 7 shall apply to insurance benefits under title XVIII of the 8 Social Security Act with respect to items and services fur- 9 nished in months beginning at least 90 days after the date 10 of the enactment of this Act (but in no case earlier than 11 January 1, 2020). 12 SEC. 4. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE STUDY AND RE- 13 PORT ON DELAY AND PREVENTION OF DIS- 14 ABILITY CONDITIONS. 15 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Health and Human 16 Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 17 shall request that the National Academy of Medicine con- 18 duct a study on the range of disability conditions that can 19 be delayed or prevented if individuals receive access to 20 health care services and coverage before the condition 21 reaches disability levels. 22 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the date that is 2 years 23 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 24 submit to Congress a report containing the results of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2496.IS S2496 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2496 IS National Academy of Medicine study authorized under 1 this section. 2 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 3 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 4 $750,000 for the period of fiscal years 2020 and 2021. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2496.IS S2496 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS