Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1211 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to credit individuals serving as caregivers of dependent relatives with deemed wages for up to five years of such service. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 19, 2023 Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title II of the Social Security Act to credit individ- uals serving as caregivers of dependent relatives with deemed wages for up to five years of such service. 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 ‘‘Social Security Care- 4 giver Credit Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF THE SENATE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1211 IS (1) Caregiving is an essential element of family 1 life and a vital service for children, the ill, the dis- 2 abled, and the elderly. 3 (2) The establishment of a caregiver credit 4 would bolster the economic prospects of unpaid care- 5 givers and would provide them with vital retirement 6 security. 7 (3) The 2022 Annual Report of the Board of 8 Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors In- 9 surance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust 10 Funds concluded that the combined Trust Funds 11 will be able to pay scheduled benefits in full until 12 2034. 13 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the 14 Senate that the United States Congress must address the 15 unfair exclusion of professional and hardworking home 16 care providers who are not eligible to receive Social Secu- 17 rity or Medicare because they provide paid care to a family 18 member with a disability under programs operated at the 19 State and local level for general health and welfare protec- 20 tion. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1211 IS SEC. 3. DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT 1 RELATIVES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Social Security Act 3 is amended by adding after section 234 (42 U.S.C. 434) 4 the following new section: 5 ‘‘DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT 6 RELATIVES 7 ‘‘SEC. 235. (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 8 section— 9 ‘‘(1)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the term 10 ‘qualifying month’ means, in connection with an in- 11 dividual, any month during which such individual 12 was engaged for not less than 80 hours in providing 13 care to a dependent relative without monetary com- 14 pensation. 15 ‘‘(B) The term ‘qualifying month’ does not in- 16 clude any month ending after the date on which 17 such individual attains retirement age (as defined in 18 section 216(l)). 19 ‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A), assist- 20 ance provided to a family caregiver of an eligible vet- 21 eran under section 1720G of title 38, United States 22 Code, shall not be considered monetary compensa- 23 tion for providing care to such eligible veteran. 24 ‘‘(2) The term ‘dependent relative’ means, in 25 connection with an individual— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1211 IS ‘‘(A) a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew 1 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 2 or domestic partner), or a child to which the in- 3 dividual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 4 partner is standing in loco parentis, who is 5 under the age of 12; or 6 ‘‘(B) a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew 7 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 8 or domestic partner), a child to which the indi- 9 vidual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 10 partner is standing in loco parentis, a parent, 11 grandparent, sibling, aunt, or uncle (of such in- 12 dividual or his or her spouse or domestic part- 13 ner), or such individual’s spouse or domestic 14 partner, if such child, grandchild, niece, neph- 15 ew, parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, 16 spouse, or domestic partner is a chronically de- 17 pendent individual. 18 ‘‘(3)(A) The term ‘chronically dependent indi- 19 vidual’ means an individual who— 20 ‘‘(i) is dependent on a daily basis on verbal 21 reminding, physical cueing, supervision, or 22 other assistance provided to the individual by 23 another person in the performance of at least 24 two of the activities of daily living (described in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1211 IS subparagraph (B)) or instrumental activities of 1 daily living (described in subparagraph (C)); 2 and 3 ‘‘(ii) without the assistance described in 4 clause (i), could not perform such activities of 5 daily living or instrumental activities of daily 6 living. 7 ‘‘(B) The ‘activities of daily living’ referred to 8 in subparagraph (A) means basic personal everyday 9 activities, including— 10 ‘‘(i) eating; 11 ‘‘(ii) bathing; 12 ‘‘(iii) dressing; 13 ‘‘(iv) toileting; and 14 ‘‘(v) transferring in and out of a bed or in 15 and out of a chair. 16 ‘‘(C) The ‘instrumental activities of daily living’ 17 referred to in subparagraph (A) means activities re- 18 lated to living independently in the community, in- 19 cluding— 20 ‘‘(i) meal planning and preparation; 21 ‘‘(ii) managing finances; 22 ‘‘(iii) shopping for food, clothing, or other 23 essential items; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1211 IS ‘‘(iv) performing essential household 1 chores; 2 ‘‘(v) communicating by phone or other 3 form of media; and 4 ‘‘(vi) traveling around and participating in 5 the community. 6 ‘‘(b) DEEMED WAGES OF CAREGIVER.—(1)(A) For 7 purposes of determining entitlement to and the amount 8 of any monthly benefit for any month after December 9 2023, or entitlement to and the amount of any lump-sum 10 death payment in the case of a death after such month, 11 payable under this title on the basis of the wages and self- 12 employment income of any individual, and for purposes 13 of section 216(i)(3), such individual shall be deemed to 14 have been paid during each qualifying month (in addition 15 to wages or self-employment income actually paid to or 16 derived by such individual during such month) at an 17 amount per month equal to— 18 ‘‘(i) in the case of a qualifying month during 19 which no wages or self-employment income were ac- 20 tually paid to or derived by such individual, 50 per- 21 cent of the national average wage index (as defined 22 in section 209(k)(1)) for the second calendar year 23 preceding the calendar year in which such month oc- 24 curs; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1211 IS ‘‘(ii) in the case of any other qualifying month, 1 the excess of the amount determined under clause (i) 2 over 1⁄2 of the wages or self-employment income ac- 3 tually paid to or derived by such individual during 4 such month. 5 ‘‘(B) In any case in which there are more than 60 6 qualifying months for an individual, only the last 60 of 7 such months shall be taken into account for purposes of 8 this section. 9 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be applicable in the case 10 of any monthly benefit or lump-sum death payment if a 11 larger such benefit or payment, as the case may be, would 12 be payable without its application. 13 ‘‘(c) RULES AND REGULATIONS.— 14 ‘‘(1) Not later than 1 year after the date of the 15 enactment of this section, the Commissioner of So- 16 cial Security shall promulgate such regulations as 17 are necessary to carry out this section and to pre- 18 vent fraud and abuse with respect to the benefits 19 under this section, including regulations establishing 20 procedures for the application and certification re- 21 quirements described in paragraph (2). 22 ‘‘(2) A qualifying month shall not be taken into 23 account under this section with respect to an indi- 24 vidual unless— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1211 IS ‘‘(A) the individual submits to the Com- 1 missioner of Social Security an application for 2 benefits under this section that includes— 3 ‘‘(i) the name and identifying infor- 4 mation of the dependent relative with re- 5 spect to whom the individual was engaged 6 in providing care during such month; 7 ‘‘(ii) if the dependent relative is not a 8 child under the age of 12, documentation 9 from the physician of the dependent rel- 10 ative explaining why the dependent relative 11 is a chronically dependent individual; and 12 ‘‘(iii) such other information as the 13 Commissioner may require to verify the 14 status of the dependent relative; and 15 ‘‘(B) for every qualifying month or period 16 of up to 12 consecutive qualifying months that 17 occurs after the first period of 12 consecutive 18 qualifying months, the individual certifies, in 19 such form and manner as the Commissioner 20 shall require, that the information provided in 21 the individual’s application for benefits under 22 this section has not changed.’’. 23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 209(k)(1) 24 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 409(k)(1)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1211 IS (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘230(b)(2)’’ the 1 first time it appears; and 2 (2) by inserting ‘‘and 235(b)(1)(A)(i),’’ after 3 ‘‘1977),’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS