[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 930 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 930
To amend titles II and XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate
the disability insurance benefits waiting period for individuals with
disabilities, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 4, 2025
Mr. Doggett (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Ansari, Ms. Barragan,
Mr. Beyer, Mr. Bishop, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms.
Brownley, Mr. Carson, Mr. Casar, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Castro of
Texas, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Crow, Mr.
Davis of Illinois, Mrs. McClain Delaney, Ms. DeLauro, Mrs. Dingell, Ms.
Escobar, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mr. Fields, Mrs. Fletcher,
Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Golden
of Maine, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Green of Texas,
Mr. Grijalva, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Johnson
of Georgia, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lynch, Mr.
Magaziner, Mrs. McBath, Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Norcross,
Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Pingree, Mrs. Ramirez,
Mr. Raskin, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr.
Sherman, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Soto, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thompson
of Mississippi, Ms. Titus, Mr. Tonko, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Turner of Texas,
Mr. Veasey, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Waters, Mrs.
Watson Coleman, Ms. Williams of Georgia, and Ms. Wilson of Florida)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend titles II and XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate
the disability insurance benefits waiting period for individuals with
disabilities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stop the Wait Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF DISABILITY WAITING PERIOD FOR SOCIAL SECURITY
DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS.
(a) Elimination of Waiting Period for Disability Insurance
Benefits.--Section 223 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (1), in the matter following
subparagraph (E)--
(i) by striking ``disability insurance
benefit (i) for each month'' and all that
follows through ``, or (iii)'' and inserting
``disability insurance benefit''; and
(ii) by striking ``, but only if'' and all
that follows through ``under such disability'';
and
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``as though he
had attained age 62 in--'' and all that follows through
``such disability insurance benefits,'' and inserting
``as though the individual had attained age 62 in the
first month for which the individual becomes entitled
to such disability insurance benefits,''; and
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking
``Definitions of Insured Status and Waiting Period''
and inserting ``Definition of Insured Status'';
(B) by striking ``For purposes of this section''
and all that follows through ``in any month if--'' and
inserting ``For purposes of this section, an individual
shall be insured for disability insurance benefits in
any month if--'';
(C) by striking paragraph (2);
(D) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as
paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively (and adjusting the
margins accordingly);
(E) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated)--
(i) by redesignating clauses (i), (ii), and
(iii) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C),
respectively; and
(ii) in subparagraph (C) (as so
redesignated), by striking ``clause (i)'' and
inserting ``subparagraph (A)''; and
(F) in the matter following subparagraph (C) (as so
redesignated), by striking ``subparagraph (B) of this
paragraph'' each place it appears and inserting ``this
paragraph''.
(b) Phase-Down of Waiting Period for Disability Insurance
Benefits.--For purposes of applications for disability insurance
benefits filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act and before
January 1, 2030, section 223(c)(2) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 423(c)(2)) shall be applied by making the following
substitutions:
(1) For applications filed in calendar years 2025, 2026, or
2027, substitute ``three'' for ``five'' and ``fifteenth'' for
``seventeenth'' each place it appears.
(2) For applications filed in calendar year 2028,
substitute ``two'' for ``five'' and ``fourteenth'' for
``seventeenth'' each place it appears.
(3) For applications filed in calendar year 2029,
substitute ``one'' for ``five'' and ``thirteenth'' for
``seventeenth'' each place it appears.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall
take effect on January 1, 2030, and apply with respect to applications
for disability insurance benefits filed on or after January 1, 2029.
(d) Conforming Amendments.--Effective January 1, 2030:
(1) Section 223(a)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 423(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ``(c)(1)'' and
inserting ``(c)''.
(2) Section 7(d)(3) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974
(45 U.S.C. 231f(d)(3)) is amended by striking ``223(c)(1)'' and
inserting ``223(c)''.
SEC. 3. MEDICARE ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS DURING WAITING
PERIOD FOR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS.
(a) Elimination of Waiting Period for Certain Individuals Without
Minimum Essential Coverage.--
(1) In general.--Section 226 the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 426) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(j)(1) For purposes of applying this section in the case of an
eligible individual described in paragraph (2), the following special
rules shall apply:
``(A) Subsection (b)(2) shall be applied as if
there were no requirement for any entitlement to
benefits, or status, for a period of 24 months prior to
receiving such benefits or status.
``(B) The entitlement under such subsection shall
be available retroactively to the first day of the
first month (rather than twenty-fifth month) of
entitlement or status.
``(C) Subsection (f) shall not be applied.
``(2) For purposes of applying this section, an `eligible
individual' is an individual, with respect to a month--
``(A) who has not yet attained the age of 65;
``(B) who is entitled to benefits described in
subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(2); and
``(C) with respect to whom section 5000A(e)(1)(A)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 would apply if the
reference to `8 percent' in such section were a
reference to `8.5 percent'.''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--Section 1811 of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395c) is amended--
(A) at the end of paragraph (2), by striking
``and'';
(B) by striking the period at the end and inserting
``, and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(4) eligible individuals (as described in section
226(j)(2)).''.
(b) Special Enrollment Period and Coverage Application for Certain
Individuals Without Minimum Essential Coverage.--Section 1837 of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395p) is amended by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
``(o)(1) In applying this section in the case of an eligible
individual who is entitled to benefits under part A pursuant to the
operation of section 226(j), the following special rules shall apply:
``(A) The initial enrollment period under
subsection (d) shall begin on the first day of the
first month in which the individual satisfies the
requirement of section 1836(a)(1).
``(B) In applying subsection (g)(1), the initial
enrollment period shall begin on the first day of the
first month of entitlement to disability insurance
benefits referred to in such subsection.
``(2) In applying this section in the case of an individual
who became entitled to benefits under part A, but had not been
entitled to such benefits for a period of 24 calendar months as
of the date of enactment of the Stop the Wait Act of 2025, and
is entitled to such benefits pursuant to the application of
section 226(j), the initial enrollment period under subsection
(d) for such individual shall begin on the first day of the
first month following the date of enactment of the Stop the
Wait Act of 2025 and shall end seven months later.''.
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