COVID–19 Recovery for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3740 To assist older Americans and people with disabilities affected by COVID– 19. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 14, 2020 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. JONES, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. REED, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To assist older Americans and people with disabilities affected by COVID–19. 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘COVID–19 Recovery for Seniors and People with Dis- 5 abilities Act of 2020’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—SOCIAL SECURITY VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S3740.IS S3740 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3740 IS Sec. 101. Definitions. Sec. 102. Pausing continuing disability reviews during the COVID–19 public health emergency. Sec. 103. Pausing all collection of overpayments during the COVID–19 public health emergency. Sec. 104. Pausing all suspension of benefits for failure to cooperate during the COVID–19 public health emergency. Sec. 105. Update in eligibility thresholds for supplemental security income; elimination of marriage penalty. Sec. 106. Elimination of Social Security disability and Medicare waiting peri- ods. Sec. 107. Support and maintenance furnished in kind not included as income for purposes of SSI. Sec. 108. Suspension of certain regulations. Sec. 109. Discharge of student loans. Sec. 110. Elimination of separate account requirement for past-due supple- mental security income benefits paid to child beneficiaries. Sec. 111. Increasing the substantial gainful activity limit. Sec. 112. State grants to protect the legal rights of SSI and SSDI applicants and beneficiaries. Sec. 113. Social security assistance and representation grants. TITLE II—MEDICARE Sec. 201. Fairness in Medicare enrollment and coverage periods. Sec. 202. Permitting an attestation of employment-based health insurance cov- erage during the COVID–19 public health emergency. Sec. 203. Suspension of the Medicare part D low-income subsidy asset test. TITLE III—MEDICAID Sec. 301. Suspension of asset test for medical assistance for Medicare cost sharing during COVID–19 emergency period. Sec. 302. Temporary increase of Medicaid FMAP for medicare cost-sharing. Sec. 303. Delay in reduction of FMAP for medicaid personal care services fur- nished without an electronic visit verification system. TITLE IV—AGRICULTURE Sec. 401. Commodity supplemental food program. TITLE V—SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS Sec. 501. COVID–19 public awareness campaign. Sec. 502. Senior legal assistance; services for older individuals with limited English proficiency. Sec. 503. Information and translation through statewide independent councils. TITLE I—SOCIAL SECURITY 1 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 2 In this title: 3 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3740.IS S3740 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3740 IS (1) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis- 1 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of Social Security. 2 (2) COVID–19 EMERGENCY PERIOD.—The 3 term ‘‘COVID–19 emergency period’’ means the pe- 4 riod of months— 5 (A) beginning with the first month that be- 6 gins on or after the date of enactment of this 7 Act; and 8 (B) ending with the sixth month that be- 9 gins on or after the last day of the public health 10 emergency described in section 1135(g)(1)(B) 11 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)). 12 SEC. 102. PAUSING CONTINUING DISABILITY REVIEWS DUR- 13 ING THE COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMER- 14 GENCY. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 16 sion of law and except as provided in subsection (b), the 17 Commissioner shall not conduct any continuing disability 18 review (as such term is defined in section 201(g)(1)(A) 19 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401(g)(1)(A))) dur- 20 ing the COVID–19 emergency period. 21 (b) EXCEPTION FOR CDR APPEALS.—Subsection (a) 22 shall not apply to a continuing disability review that— 23 (1) is in progress on the date of enactment of 24 this Act; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3740.IS S3740 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3740 IS (2) is being conducted pursuant to an appeal by 1 an individual of an adverse decision of the Commis- 2 sioner with respect to the individual’s eligibility for 3 benefits under title II or XVI of the Social Security 4 Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq., 1381 et seq.), or the 5 amount of such benefits for which the individual is 6 eligible. 7 SEC. 103. PAUSING ALL COLLECTION OF OVERPAYMENTS 8 DURING THE COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH 9 EMERGENCY. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 11 sion of law and except as provided in subsection (b), dur- 12 ing the COVID–19 emergency period, the Commissioner 13 shall not make any downward adjustment to a benefit 14 amount payable to an individual under title II or XVI of 15 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq., 1381 et 16 seq.), or take any other action, for the purpose of col- 17 lecting an overpayment made to such individual. 18 (b) EXCEPTION FOR FRAUD.—Subsection (a) shall 19 not apply to any downward adjustment or any other action 20 with respect to a benefit amount payable to an individual 21 under title II or XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 22 401 et seq., 1381 et seq.) if such adjustment is made, or 23 such action taken, on the basis that the individual is in- 24 volved in fraud or similar fault. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3740.IS S3740 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3740 IS SEC. 104. PAUSING ALL SUSPENSION OF BENEFITS FOR 1 FAILURE TO COOPERATE DURING THE 2 COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY. 3 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during 4 the COVID–19 emergency period, the Commissioner shall 5 not suspend, modify, or terminate an individual’s entitle- 6 ment to, or eligibility for, benefits under title II or XVI 7 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq., 1381 8 et seq.) on the basis that the individual has failed to co- 9 operate with a request of the Commissioner. 10 SEC. 105. UPDATE IN ELIGIBILITY THRESHOLDS FOR SUP- 11 PLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME; ELIMI- 12 NATION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY. 13 (a) UPDATE IN GENERAL INCOME EXCLUSION.— 14 Section 1612(b)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 15 U.S.C. 1382a(b)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘$240’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘$1,476 (increased as described in section 17 1617(d) for each calendar year after 2020)’’. 18 (b) UPDATE IN EARNED INCOME EXCLUSION.—Sec- 19 tion 1612(b)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382a(b)(4)) is 20 amended by striking ‘‘$780’’ each place it appears and 21 inserting ‘‘$4,788 (increased as described in section 22 1617(d) for each calendar year after 2020)’’. 23 (c) UPDATE IN RESOURCE LIMIT FOR INDIVIDUALS 24 AND COUPLES.—Section 1611(a)(3) of such Act (42 25 U.S.C. 1382(a)(3)) is amended— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3740.IS S3740 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3740 IS (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘$2,250’’ 1 and all that follows through the end of the subpara- 2 graph and inserting ‘‘$20,000 in calendar year 3 2020, and shall be increased as described in section 4 1617(d) for each subsequent calendar year.’’; and 5 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘$1,500’’ 6 and all that follows through the end of the subpara- 7 graph and inserting ‘‘$10,000 in calendar year 8 2020, and shall be increased as described in section 9 1617(d) for each subsequent calendar year.’’. 10 (d) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Section 1617 of such 11 Act (42 U.S.C. 1382f) is amended— 12 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘; IN- 13 FLATION ADJUSTMENT’’ after ‘‘BENEFITS’’; and 14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(d)(1) In the case of any calendar year after 2020, 16 each of the amounts specified in sections 1611(a)(3), 17 1612(b)(2)(A), and 1612(b)(4) shall be increased by mul- 18 tiplying each such amount by the quotient obtained by di- 19 viding— 20 ‘‘(A) the average of the Consumer Price 21 Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI–E, as pub- 22 lished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the 23 Department of Labor) for the 12-month period 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3740.IS S3740 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3740 IS ending with September of the preceding cal- 1 endar year, by 2 ‘‘(B) such average for the 12-month period 3 ending with September 2019. 4 ‘‘(2) In no case shall the application of para- 5 graph (1) result in a reduction to the amounts speci- 6 fied in such paragraph.’’. 7 (e) REPEAL OF MARRIAGE PENALTY.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1611(b)(2) of the 9 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382f(b)(2)) is 10 amended by striking ‘‘payable at the rate of’’ and all 11 that follows through the end of the paragraph and 12 inserting ‘‘payable— 13 ‘‘(A) for calendar years 1974 through 2019, at 14 the rate of $2,628 (or, if greater, the amount deter- 15 mined under section 1617); and 16 ‘‘(B) for calendar year 2020 and any calendar 17 year thereafter, at twice the rate applicable for such 18 calendar year under paragraph (1) for an individual 19 who does not have an eligible spouse, 20 reduced by the amount of income, not excluded pursuant 21 to section 1612(b), of such individual and spouse.’’. 22 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 23 1617(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 24 1382(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘subsections 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3740.IS S3740 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3740 IS (a)(1)(A), (a)(2)(A), (b)(1), and (b)(2)’’ and insert- 1 ing ‘‘subsections (a)(1)(A), (a)(2)(A), and (b)(1)’’. 2 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3 this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of 4 this Act, and shall apply to eligibility determinations 5 made, and benefit amounts payable, under title XVI of 6 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) on or 7 after such date. 8 SEC. 106. ELIMINATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY 9 AND MEDICARE WAITING PERIODS. 10 (a) TEMPORARY ELIMINATION OF WAITING PERIODS 11 FOR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY BENEFITS AND RAIL- 12 ROAD RETIREMENT ACT DISABILITY BENEFITS.—During 13 the period that begins on the date of enactment of this 14 Act and ends on the last day of the sixth month that be- 15 gins on or after the last day of the public health emer- 16 gency described in section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Se- 17 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)(B))— 18 (1) section 202(e)(5) of the Social Security Act 19 (42 U.S.C. 402(e)(5)) shall be applied by striking 20 subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting the fol- 21 lowing: ‘‘The waiting period referred to in paragraph 22 (1)(F), in the case of any widow or surviving di- 23 vorced wife, is zero months.’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3740.IS S3740 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3740 IS (2) section 202(f)(5) of the Social Security Act 1 (42 U.S.C. 402(f)(5)) shall be applied by striking 2 subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting the fol- 3 lowing: ‘‘The waiting period referred to in paragraph 4 (1)(F), in the case of any widower or surviving di- 5 vorced husband, is zero months.’’; 6 (3) section 223(c)(2) of the Social Security Act 7 (42 U.S.C. 423(c)(2)) shall be applied by sub- 8 stituting ‘‘zero months.’’ for ‘‘the earliest period of 9 five consecutive calendar months’’ and all that fol- 10 lows through the period; and 11 (4) section 5(a)(ii) of the Railroad Retirement 12 Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231c(a)(ii)) shall be applied 13 by striking ‘‘the of (A)’’ and all that follows through 14 ‘‘(B)’’. 15 (b) TEMPORARY ELIMINATION OF MEDICARE WAIT- 16 ING PERIOD.—For purposes of applying section 226 of the 17 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 426) to any individual dur- 18 ing the period described in subsection (a), the following 19 special rules apply: 20 (1) Subsection (b) of such section shall be ap- 21 plied as if there were no requirement for any entitle- 22 ment to benefits, or status, for a period longer than 23 1 month. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3740.IS S3740 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3740 IS (2) The entitlement under such subsection shall 1 begin with the first month (rather than twenty-fifth 2 month) of entitlement or status. 3 (3) Subsection (f) of such section shall not be 4 applied. 5 (c) RULES OF APPLICATION.— 6 (1) SCOPE OF APPLICATION.—The provisions of 7 the Social Security Act and the Railroad Retirement 8 Act of 1974 specified in subsections (a) and (b) shall 9 be applied in the manner described in such sub- 10 sections with respect to any individual— 11 (A) for whom a waiting period under such 12 provision began before the date of enactment of 13 this Act; and 14 (B) for whom a waiting period under such 15 a provision begins on or after such date of en- 16 actment. 17 (2) EFFECT OF APPLICATION.—An individual 18 with respect to whom a waiting period under a pro- 19 vision specified in subsection (a) or (b) does not 20 apply as a result of the application of such sub- 21 section shall, for purposes of applying such provision 22 to such individual after the end of the period de- 23 scribed in subsection (a), be deemed to have met the 24 waiting period requirement under such provision. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3740.IS S3740 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3740 IS SEC. 107. SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE FURNISHED IN 1 KIND NOT INCLUDED AS INCOME FOR PUR- 2 POSES OF SSI. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1612(a)(2) of such Act 4 (42 U.S.C. 1382a(a)(2)) is amended— 5 (1) by inserting ‘‘(other than support or main- 6 tenance furnished in kind)’’ after ‘‘all other income’’; 7 and 8 (2) in subparagraph (A)— 9 (A) by striking ‘‘or kind’’; 10 (B) by striking clause (i) and redesig- 11 nating clauses (ii) and (iii) as clauses (i) and 12 (ii), respectively; and 13 (C) in clause (ii) (as so redesignated), by 14 striking ‘‘and the provisions of [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]