I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7274 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for outreach 

and education to Medicare beneficiaries to simplify access to information 

for family caregivers through 1–800–MEDICARE, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2024 

Mr. CAREY (for himself and Ms. CHU) 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 title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide 

for outreach and education to Medicare beneficiaries to 

simplify access to information for family caregivers 

through 1–800–MEDICARE, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Connecting Caregivers 

5 to Medicare Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OUTREACH AND EDUCATION TO MEDICARE BENE2 FICIARIES TO SIMPLIFY ACCESS TO INFOR3 MATION FOR FAMILY CAREGIVERS THROUGH 

4 1–800-MEDICARE. 

5 Section 1804 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 1395b–2) is amended by adding at the end the following 

7 new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(e)(1) The Secretary shall provide for such outreach 

9 and education activities as are necessary, including as de10 scribed in paragraph (2), to inform individuals entitled to 

11 benefits under part A or enrolled under part B and indi12 viduals applying for benefits under part A or enrolling 

13 under part B about the option to authorize a family care14 giver (as defined in paragraph (8)(A)) of such an indi15 vidual to access the personal health information of such 

16 individual through the toll-free 1–800–MEDICARE tele17 phone number maintained by the Secretary under sub18 section (b) if such individual completes and submits a 

19 specified family caregiver information access authorization 

20 form (as defined in paragraph (8)(B)) authorizing such 

21 access by such family caregiver to such information. 

22 ‘‘(2) The outreach and education activities under 

23 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) Outreach and education efforts to provide 

25 information about the option described in paragraph 

26 (1) to individuals described in such paragraph, to 


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1 providers of services and suppliers furnishing serv2 ices to such individuals, to family caregivers, and to 

3 other appropriate entities specified by the Secretary. 

4 ‘‘(B) Outreach and education efforts to inform 

5 such individuals, providers of services and suppliers, 

6 family caregivers, and other appropriate entities of 

7 best practices identified pursuant to paragraph (4) 

8 to protect such individuals from fraudulent practices 

9 described in such paragraph. 

10 ‘‘(C) Outreach and education efforts to individ11 uals described in paragraph (1) to inform such indi12 viduals of all existing reporting mechanisms for sus13 pected Medicare fraud. 

14 ‘‘(D) The inclusion of information about the op15 tion described in paragraph (1), and best practices 

16 identified pursuant to paragraph (4), in a manner 

17 that is prominent, easily accessible, and readily un18 derstandable— 

19 ‘‘(i) in the notice under subsection (a); 

20 ‘‘(ii) through the Medicare.gov website or a 

21 successor website; 

22 ‘‘(iii) through other efforts specifically con23 ducted for individuals enrolled in a Medicare 

24 Advantage plan under part C; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) through other platforms or methods 

2 specified by the Secretary, such as social media. 

3 ‘‘(E) The inclusion, in a manner that is promi4 nent, easily accessible, and readily understandable, 

5 of the specified family caregiver information access 

6 authorization form in the notice under subsection 

7 (a), through— 

8 ‘‘(i) the website described in subparagraph 

9 (D)(ii); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) other efforts described in subpara11 graph (D)(iii). 

12 ‘‘(F) Education efforts to train operators of 1– 

13 800–MEDICARE on providing appropriate re14 sources and information to family caregivers. 

15 ‘‘(3) Information about the option described in para16 graph (1) provided through efforts described in paragraph 

17 (2) shall include a notification clarifying that such option 

18 is available to all individuals described in paragraph (1) 

19 regardless of whether such individuals are enrolled for the 

20 original Medicare fee-for-service option under part A or 

21 B or enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. 

22 ‘‘(4) Not later than 1 year after the date of enact23 ment of this subsection, the Secretary, acting through the 

24 Office of the Inspector General of the Department of 

25 Health and Human Services, shall submit to Congress and 


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1 make publicly available best practices to protect individ2 uals described in paragraph (1) against fraud relating to 

3 inappropriately accessing or using the personal health in4 formation of such individuals, including best practices for 

5 educating beneficiaries on fraud reporting mechanisms, 

6 and recommendations to improve timely agency investiga7 tion of beneficiary fraud reports. The Secretary shall pro8 vide for, as the Secretary determines appropriate, separate 

9 best practices for individuals described in paragraph (1), 

10 family caregivers, providers of services and suppliers, and 

11 other entities specified by the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall provide for opportunities 

13 (such as through surveys) for family caregivers to provide 

14 feedback to the Secretary on experiences accessing infor15 mation through 1–800–MEDICARE and on the outreach 

16 and education activities conducted under this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(6) The outreach and education activities conducted 

18 under this subsection, and the specified family caregiver 

19 information access authorization form, shall be made 

20 available in non-English languages, as specified by the 

21 Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(7) In conducting the outreach and education activi23 ties under this subsection, the Secretary shall, to the 

24 greatest extent practicable, coordinate such activities with 

25 activities carried out through State health insurance asVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:58 Feb 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7274.IH H7274

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1 sistance programs or the Administration for Community 

2 Living. 

3 ‘‘(8) For purposes of this subsection: 

4 ‘‘(A) The term ‘family caregiver’ has the mean5 ing given such term in section 2 of the Recognize, 

6 Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Care7 givers Act of 2017, and includes such other individ8 uals as specified by the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(B) The term ‘specified family caregiver infor10 mation access authorization form’ means the CMS– 

11 10106 form or any successor form.’’. 

Æ 


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