Introduced 6/23/20: S. 2566
A bill to amend title II of the Social Security Act to phase out the 24-month
waiting period for disabled individuals to become eligible for Medicare benefits,
to eliminate the waiting period for individuals with life-threatening conditions,
and for other purposes.
--Sponsor: U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Senators Bingaman, Corzine, Lautenberg, Stabenow, Clinton, Johnson, Mikulski,
Durbin, and Dayton have introduced the "Ending the Medicare Disability
Waiting Period Act of 2004." The bill would, over 10 years, phase out the
two-year waiting period before people with disabilities can receive Medicare
benefits. The legislation also creates a process by which the Secretary of Health
and Human Services (HHS) can immediately waive the waiting period for people
with life-threatening illnesses. For people with less serious illnesses, the
waiting period would gradually be phased out over 10 years.
This waiting period is estimated to affect 1.26 million people, which includes
an estimated 400,000 Americans with disabilities that are completely uninsured
and many others that are underinsured at a time in their lives when the need
for health coverage is most dire (Dale and Verdier, The Commonwealth Fund, July
2003). In fact, various studies show that death rates among SSDI recipients
are highest during the first two years of enrollment in the Medicare Disability
program (Mauney, AMA, June 2002). For example, according to the Commonwealth
Fund, 4 percent of these people die during the two-year waiting period.
Who are the people who are stuck in the waiting period? According to a Commonwealth
Fund analysis, "...45 percent of nonelderly Medicare beneficiaries with
disabilities had incomes below the federal poverty line, and 77 percent had
incomes below 200 percent of poverty. Fifty-nine percent reported that they
were in fair or poor health; of this group, more than 90 percent reported that
they suffered from one or more chronic illnesses, including arthritis (52%),
hypertension (46%), mental disorder (36%), heart condition (35%), chronic lung
disease (26%), cancer (20%), diabetes (19%), and stroke (12%)."
As the Medicare Rights Center has said, "By forcing Americans with disabilities
to wait 24 months for Medicare coverage, the current law effectively sentences
these people to inadequate health care, poverty or death...Since disability
can strike anyone, at any point in life, the 24-month waiting period should
be of concern to everyone, not just the millions of Americans with disabilities
today."
Although this will cost the Medicare program additional money, the Commonwealth
Fund study estimates that federal Medicaid savings would offset nearly 30 percent
of the increased Medicare costs. Furthermore, states, which have been struggling
financially with their Medicaid programs, would reap a multi-billion dollar
windfall that would help them better manage their Medicaid programs for their
neediest citizens.
And, finally, private-sector employers and employees would also benefit from
the passage of the bill. As the report notes, "...to the extent that disabled
adults rely on coverage through their prior employer or their spouse's employer,
eliminating the waiting period would also produce savings to employers who provide
this coverage."
If your organization supports this effort to eliminate the two-year waiting
period before Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries can
receive Medicare benefits, we urge you to let your federal legislators know
of your support for this bill. This would lay the groundwork for getting it
included in the federal budget for enactment next year.
Diane E. Dorman, Vice President for Public Policy
National Organization for Rare Disorders, DC, Office
1050 17th St., NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone/202.496.1296 ext. 3014; Cell/202.258.6457
ddorman@rarediseases.org
Read about events on Capitol Hill, funding for rare-disease research, and other topics of interest from NORD's office in Washington, DC.
