II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1255 

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, and to support State medical training programs 

for caregivers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 25, 2017 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Ms. HASSAN, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

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, and 

to support State medical training programs for caregivers. 

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 ‘‘Social Security Care5 giver Credit Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF THE SENATE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that: 


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1 (1) Caregiving is an essential element of family 

2 life and a vital service for children, the ill, the dis3 abled, and the elderly. 

4 (2) The establishment of a caregiver credit 

5 would bolster the economic prospects of unpaid care6 givers and would provide them with vital retirement 

7 security. 

8 (3) The 2015 Annual Report of the Board of 

9 Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors In10 surance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust 

11 Funds concluded that the combined Trust Funds 

12 will be able to pay scheduled benefits in full until 

13 2034. 

14 (4) While there is no immediate crisis, policy 

15 options should be considered to extend OASDI sol16 vency, including by eradicating the gender wage gap, 

17 increasing overall employment, or increasing the 

18 minimum wage. 

19 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of Sen20 ate that the United States Congress must address the un21 fair exclusion of professional and hardworking home care 

22 providers who are not eligible to receive Social Security 

23 or Medicare because they provide paid care to a family 

24 member with a disability under programs operated at the 


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1 State and local level for general health and welfare protec2 tion. 

3 SEC. 3. DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT 

4 RELATIVES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Social Security Act 

6 is amended by adding after section 234 (42 U.S.C. 434) 

7 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT

9 RELATIVES

10 ‘‘SEC. 235. (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

11 section— 

12 ‘‘(1)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the term 

13 ‘qualifying month’ means, in connection with an in14 dividual, any month— 

15 ‘‘(i) beginning after the date which is 60 

16 months prior to the date of the enactment of 

17 the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 

18 2017, and 

19 ‘‘(ii) during which such individual was en20 gaged for not less than 80 hours in providing 

21 care to a dependent relative without monetary 

22 compensation. 

23 ‘‘(B) The term ‘qualifying month’ does not in24 clude any month ending after the date on which 

25 such individual attains retirement age (as defined in 

26 section 216(l)). 


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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘dependent relative’ means, in 

2 connection with an individual— 

3 ‘‘(A) a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew 

4 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 

5 or domestic partner), or a child to which the in6 dividual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 

7 partner is standing in loco parentis, who is 

8 under the age of 12, or 

9 ‘‘(B) a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew 

10 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 

11 or domestic partner), a child to which the indi12 vidual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 

13 partner is standing in loco parentis, a parent, 

14 grandparent, sibling, aunt, or uncle (of such in15 dividual or his or her spouse or domestic part16 ner), or such individual’s spouse or domestic 

17 partner, if such child, grandchild, niece, neph18 ew, parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, 

19 spouse, or domestic partner is a chronically de20 pendent individual. 

21 ‘‘(3)(A) The term ‘chronically dependent indi22 vidual’ means an individual who— 

23 ‘‘(i) is dependent on a daily basis on verbal 

24 reminding, physical cueing, supervision, or 

25 other assistance provided to the individual by 


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1 another person in the performance of at least 

2 two of the activities of daily living (described in 

3 subparagraph (B)) or instrumental activities of 

4 daily living (described in subparagraph (C)), 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(ii) without the assistance described in 

7 clause (i), could not perform such activities of 

8 daily living or instrumental activities of daily 

9 living. 

10 ‘‘(B) The ‘activities of daily living’ referred to 

11 in subparagraph (A) means basic personal everyday 

12 activities, including— 

13 ‘‘(i) Eating. 

14 ‘‘(ii) Bathing. 

15 ‘‘(iii) Dressing. 

16 ‘‘(iv) Toileting. 

17 ‘‘(v) Transferring in and out of a bed or 

18 in and out of a chair. 

19 ‘‘(C) The ‘instrumental activities of daily living’ 

20 referred to in subparagraph (A) means activities re21 lated to living independently in the community, in22 cluding— 

23 ‘‘(i) Meal planning and preparation. 

24 ‘‘(ii) Managing finances. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Shopping for food, clothing, or other 

2 essential items. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Performing essential household 

4 chores. 

5 ‘‘(v) Communicating by phone or other 

6 form of media. 

7 ‘‘(vi) Traveling around and participating in 

8 the community. 

9 ‘‘(b) DEEMED WAGES OF CAREGIVER.—(1)(A) For 

10 purposes of determining entitlement to and the amount 

11 of any monthly benefit for any month after December 

12 2017, or entitlement to and the amount of any lump-sum 

13 death payment in the case of a death after such month, 

14 payable under this title on the basis of the wages and self15 employment income of any individual, and for purposes 

16 of section 216(i)(3), such individual shall be deemed to 

17 have been paid during each qualifying month (in addition 

18 to wages or self-employment income actually paid to or 

19 derived by such individual during such month) at an 

20 amount per month equal to— 

21 ‘‘(i) in the case of a qualifying month during 

22 which no wages or self-employment income were ac23 tually paid to or derived by such individual, 50 per24 cent of the national average wage index (as defined 

25 in section 209(k)(1)) for the second calendar year 


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1 preceding the calendar year in which such month oc2 curs; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any other qualifying month, 

4 the excess of the amount determined under clause (i) 

over 1 5 ⁄2 of the wages or self-employment income ac6 tually paid to or derived by such individual during 

7 such month. 

8 ‘‘(B) In any case in which there are more than 60 

9 qualifying months for an individual, only the last 60 of 

10 such months shall be taken into account for purposes of 

11 this section. 

12 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be applicable in the case 

13 of any monthly benefit or lump-sum death payment if a 

14 larger such benefit or payment, as the case may be, would 

15 be payable without its application. 

16 ‘‘(c) RULES AND REGULATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) Not later than one year after the date of 

18 the enactment of this section, the Commissioner of 

19 Social Security shall promulgate such regulations as 

20 are necessary to carry out this section and to pre21 vent fraud and abuse with respect to the benefits 

22 under this section, including regulations establishing 

23 procedures for the application and certification re24 quirements described in paragraph (2). 


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1 ‘‘(2) A qualifying month shall not be taken into 

2 account under this section with respect to an indi3 vidual unless— 

4 ‘‘(A) the individual submits to the Com5 missioner of Social Security an application for 

6 benefits under this section that includes— 

7 ‘‘(i) the name and identifying infor8 mation of the dependent relative with re9 spect to whom the individual was engaged 

10 in providing care during such month; 

11 ‘‘(ii) if the dependent relative is not a 

12 child under the age of 12, documentation 

13 from the physician of the dependent rel14 ative explaining why the dependent relative 

15 is a chronically dependent individual; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) such other information as the 

17 Commissioner may require to verify the 

18 status of the dependent relative; and 

19 ‘‘(B) for every qualifying month or period 

20 of up to 12 consecutive qualifying months that 

21 occurs after the first period of 12 consecutive 

22 qualifying months, the individual certifies, in 

23 such form and manner as the Commissioner 

24 shall require, that the information provided in 


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1 the individual’s application for benefits under 

2 this section has not changed.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 209(k)(1) 

4 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 409(k)(1)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘230(b)(2)’’ the 

6 first time it appears; and 

7 (2) by inserting ‘‘and 235(b)(1)(A)(i),’’ after 

8 ‘‘1977),’’. 

9 SEC. 4. PROMOTING STATE PROGRAMS TO PROVIDE MED10 ICAL TRAINING TO CAREGIVERS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

12 Human Services is authorized to make grants to States 

13 to support State programs that provide medical training 

14 to individuals who provide care to dependent relatives 

15 without monetary compensation. 

16 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

18 necessary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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