Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3729 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2023 Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself and Ms. MENG) 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 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 CONGRESS. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3729.IH H3729 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3729 IH (1) Caregiving is an essential element of family 1 life and a vital service for children, the ill, the dis- 2 abled, and the elderly. 3 (2) The establishment of a caregiver credit 4 would bolster the economic prospects of unpaid care- 5 givers and would provide them with vital retirement 6 security. 7 (3) The 2022 Annual Report of the Board of 8 Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors In- 9 surance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust 10 Funds concluded that the combined Trust Funds 11 will be able to pay scheduled benefits in full until 12 2034. 13 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 14 gress that Congress should address the unfair exclusion 15 of professional and hardworking home care providers who 16 are not eligible to receive Social Security or Medicare be- 17 cause they provide paid care to a family member with a 18 disability under programs operated at the State and local 19 level for general health and welfare protection. 20 SEC. 3. DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT 21 RELATIVES. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Social Security Act 23 is amended by adding after section 234 (42 U.S.C. 434) 24 the following new section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3729.IH H3729 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3729 IH ‘‘DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT 1 RELATIVES 2 ‘‘SEC. 235. (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 3 section— 4 ‘‘(1)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the term 5 ‘qualifying month’ means, in connection with an in- 6 dividual, any month during which such individual 7 was engaged for not less than 80 hours in providing 8 care to a dependent relative without monetary com- 9 pensation. 10 ‘‘(B) The term ‘qualifying month’ does not in- 11 clude any month ending after the date on which 12 such individual attains retirement age (as defined in 13 section 216(l)). 14 ‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A), assist- 15 ance provided to a family caregiver of an eligible vet- 16 eran under section 1720G of title 38, United States 17 Code, shall not be considered monetary compensa- 18 tion for providing care to such eligible veteran. 19 ‘‘(2) The term ‘dependent relative’ means, in 20 connection with an individual— 21 ‘‘(A) a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew 22 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 23 or domestic partner), or a child to which the in- 24 dividual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3729.IH H3729 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3729 IH partner is standing in loco parentis, who is 1 under the age of 12; or 2 ‘‘(B) a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew 3 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 4 or domestic partner), a child to which the indi- 5 vidual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 6 partner is standing in loco parentis, a parent, 7 grandparent, sibling, aunt, or uncle (of such in- 8 dividual or his or her spouse or domestic part- 9 ner), or such individual’s spouse or domestic 10 partner, if such child, grandchild, niece, neph- 11 ew, parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, 12 spouse, or domestic partner is a chronically de- 13 pendent individual. 14 ‘‘(3)(A) The term ‘chronically dependent indi- 15 vidual’ means an individual who— 16 ‘‘(i) is dependent on a daily basis on verbal 17 reminding, physical cueing, supervision, or 18 other assistance provided to the individual by 19 another person in the performance of at least 20 two of the activities of daily living (described in 21 subparagraph (B)) or instrumental activities of 22 daily living (described in subparagraph (C)); 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3729.IH H3729 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3729 IH ‘‘(ii) without the assistance described in 1 clause (i), could not perform such activities of 2 daily living or instrumental activities of daily 3 living. 4 ‘‘(B) The ‘activities of daily living’ referred to 5 in subparagraph (A) means basic personal everyday 6 activities, including— 7 ‘‘(i) eating; 8 ‘‘(ii) bathing; 9 ‘‘(iii) dressing; 10 ‘‘(iv) toileting; and 11 ‘‘(v) transferring in and out of a bed or in 12 and out of a chair. 13 ‘‘(C) The ‘instrumental activities of daily living’ 14 referred to in subparagraph (A) means activities re- 15 lated to living independently in the community, in- 16 cluding— 17 ‘‘(i) meal planning and preparation; 18 ‘‘(ii) managing finances; 19 ‘‘(iii) shopping for food, clothing, or other 20 essential items; 21 ‘‘(iv) performing essential household 22 chores; 23 ‘‘(v) communicating by phone or other 24 form of media; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3729.IH H3729 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3729 IH ‘‘(vi) traveling around and participating in 1 the community. 2 ‘‘(b) DEEMED WAGES OF CAREGIVER.—(1)(A) For 3 purposes of determining entitlement to and the amount 4 of any monthly benefit for any month after December 5 2023, or entitlement to and the amount of any lump-sum 6 death payment in the case of a death after such month, 7 payable under this title on the basis of the wages and self- 8 employment income of any individual, and for purposes 9 of section 216(i)(3), such individual shall be deemed to 10 have been paid during each qualifying month (in addition 11 to wages or self-employment income actually paid to or 12 derived by such individual during such month) at an 13 amount per month equal to— 14 ‘‘(i) in the case of a qualifying month during 15 which no wages or self-employment income were ac- 16 tually paid to or derived by such individual, 50 per- 17 cent of the national average wage index (as defined 18 in section 209(k)(1)) for the second calendar year 19 preceding the calendar year in which such month oc- 20 curs; and 21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any other qualifying month, 22 the excess of the amount determined under clause (i) 23 over 1⁄2 of the wages or self-employment income ac- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3729.IH H3729 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3729 IH tually paid to or derived by such individual during 1 such month. 2 ‘‘(B) In any case in which there are more than 60 3 qualifying months for an individual, only the last 60 of 4 such months shall be taken into account for purposes of 5 this section. 6 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be applicable in the case 7 of any monthly benefit or lump-sum death payment if a 8 larger such benefit or payment, as the case may be, would 9 be payable without its application. 10 ‘‘(c) RULES AND REGULATIONS.— 11 ‘‘(1) Not later than 1 year after the date of the 12 enactment of this section, the Commissioner of So- 13 cial Security shall promulgate such regulations as 14 are necessary to carry out this section and to pre- 15 vent fraud and abuse with respect to the benefits 16 under this section, including regulations establishing 17 procedures for the application and certification re- 18 quirements described in paragraph (2). 19 ‘‘(2) A qualifying month shall not be taken into 20 account under this section with respect to an indi- 21 vidual unless— 22 ‘‘(A) the individual submits to the Com- 23 missioner of Social Security an application for 24 benefits under this section that includes— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3729.IH H3729 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3729 IH ‘‘(i) the name and identifying infor- 1 mation of the dependent relative with re- 2 spect to whom the individual was engaged 3 in providing care during such month; 4 ‘‘(ii) if the dependent relative is not a 5 child under the age of 12, documentation 6 from the physician of the dependent rel- 7 ative explaining why the dependent relative 8 is a chronically dependent individual; and 9 ‘‘(iii) such other information as the 10 Commissioner may require to verify the 11 status of the dependent relative; and 12 ‘‘(B) for every qualifying month or period 13 of up to 12 consecutive qualifying months that 14 occurs after the first period of 12 consecutive 15 qualifying months, the individual certifies, in 16 such form and manner as the Commissioner 17 shall require, that the information provided in 18 the individual’s application for benefits under 19 this section has not changed.’’. 20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 209(k)(1) 21 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 409(k)(1)) is amended— 22 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘230(b)(2)’’ the 23 first time it appears; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3729.IH H3729 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3729 IH (2) by inserting ‘‘and 235(b)(1)(A)(i),’’ after 1 ‘‘1977),’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3729.IH H3729 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB