I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4797

To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to direct the Commissioner

of Social Security to conduct outreach efforts to increase awareness

of the availability of Medicare cost-sharing assistance to eligible lowincome Medicare beneficiaries.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 29, 2000

Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky (for himself and Mr. FLETCHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means,

and in addition to the Committee on 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 XI of the Social Security Act to direct the

Commissioner of Social Security to conduct outreach efforts to increase awareness of the availability of Medicare

cost-sharing assistance to eligible low-income Medicare

beneficiaries.

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 ‘‘Low-Income Widows

5 Assistance Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) Since 1988, 3 cost-sharing payment pro4 grams that provide certain low-income elderly and

5 disabled individuals with financial assistance in cov6 ering medicare beneficiary costs under title XVIII of

7 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.)

8 have been established by law.

9 (2) While eligibility for medicare cost-sharing

10 assistance has expanded, and while the Social Secu11 rity Administration, the Health Care Financing Ad12 ministration, and State agencies are working coop13 eratively to identify and implement reforms to cure

14 the chronic deficiencies associated with the programs

15 described in paragraph (1), reports have shown that

16 gaps in beneficiary knowledge and deficiencies in

17 program administration by Federal and State agen18 cies present persistent barriers to enrolling eligible

19 beneficiaries in such programs.

20 (3) The financial plight of social security and

21 medicare beneficiaries who experience critical income

22 shifts due to the death of a spouse is of particular

23 concern. Statistics furnished by the Social Security

24 Administration show that 40 percent of nonmarried

25 women (a category that includes widows) rely on so26 cial security benefits for 90 percent of their income
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1 in comparison to only 18 percent of married couples.

Further, nearly 1 2 ⁄4 of nonmarried women rely on so3 cial security retirement benefits as their sole source

4 of income.

5 (4) While current reform proposals concentrate

6 on reaching potential eligible beneficiaries upon ini7 tial enrollment in social security or medicare, the fi8 nancial vulnerability of widowed spouses can arise at

9 any time after a senior has begun to receive retire10 ment benefits.

11 (5) Nearly every legislative proposal to provide

12 an outpatient prescription drug benefit under the

13 medicare program would provide additional financial

14 assistance to medicare beneficiaries who currently

15 qualify for assistance under medicare cost-sharing

16 programs.

17 SEC. 3. OUTREACH EFFORTS.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XI of the Social Security Act

19 (42 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after

20 section 1143 the following new section:

21 ‘‘OUTREACH EFFORTS TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF THE

22 AVAILABILITY OF MEDICARE COST-SHARING

23 ‘‘SEC. 1144. (a) OUTREACH.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of So25 cial Security (in this section referred to as the ‘Com26 missioner’) shall conduct outreach efforts to—
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1 ‘‘(A) identify individuals entitled to bene2 fits under the medicare program under title

3 XVIII who may be eligible for medical assist4 ance for payment of the cost of medicare cost5 sharing under the medicaid program pursuant

6 to sections 1902(a)(10)(E) and 1933; and

7 ‘‘(B) notify such individuals of the avail8 ability of such medical assistance under such

9 sections.

10 ‘‘(2) CONTENT OF NOTICE.—Any notice fur11 nished under paragraph (1) shall state that eligi12 bility for medicare cost-sharing assistance under

13 such sections is conditioned upon the individual pro14 viding an accurate statement as to whether or not

15 the individual has tax-exempt income, and, if so, the

16 amount of such income and, in the case of an indi17 vidual residing in a State that imposes an asset test

18 for such eligibility, the amount of countable assets

19 the individual has.

20 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH STATES.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In conducting the outreach

22 efforts under this section, the Commissioner shall—

23 ‘‘(A) furnish the appropriate agency of

24 each State with information consisting of the

25 identity of individuals residing in the State that
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1 the Commissioner determines are or may be eli2 gible for medical assistance for payment of the

3 cost of medicare cost-sharing under the med4 icaid program pursuant to sections

5 1902(a)(10)(E) and 1933; and

6 ‘‘(B) update any such information not less

7 frequently than once per year.

8 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION IN PERIODIC UPDATES.—

9 The periodic updates described in paragraph (1)(B)

10 shall include information on individuals who are or

11 may be eligible for the medical assistance described

12 in paragraph (1)(A) because such individuals have

13 experienced reductions in benefits under title II.’’.

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

15 subsection (a) shall take effect one year after the date of

16 the enactment of this Act.

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