I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 883 

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 9, 2023 

Mr. DOGGETT (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. VAN DUYNE, Ms. 

BARRAGA ́N, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWNLEY, 

Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. CASE, Ms. CASTOR

of Florida, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE

of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. CROW, 

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DESAULNIER, 

Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Ms. LEGER

FERNANDEZ, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, 

Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. GREEN of 

Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KEATING, 

Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LIEU, Ms. MANNING, Mrs. MCBATH, 

Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. NADLER, 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. 

RASKIN, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, 

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. TAKANO, 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Mr. TORRES of 

New York, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 

Ms. WATERS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILD, and Ms. WILLIAMS

of Georgia) 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 


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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. 

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 ‘‘Stop the Wait Act of 

5 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF DISABILITY WAITING PERIOD FOR 

7 SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE 

8 BENEFITS. 

9 (a) ELIMINATION OF WAITING PERIOD FOR DIS10 ABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS.—Section 223 of the So11 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1), in the matter fol14 lowing subparagraph (E)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘disability insurance 

16 benefit (i) for each month’’ and all that 

17 follows through ‘‘, or (iii)’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘disability insurance benefit’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘, but only if’’ and all 

20 that follows through ‘‘under such dis21 ability’’; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘as 

2 though he had attained age 62 in—’’ and all 

3 that follows through ‘‘such disability insurance 

4 benefits,’’ and inserting ‘‘as though the indi5 vidual had attained age 62 in the first month 

6 for which the individual becomes entitled to 

7 such disability insurance benefits,’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (c)— 

9 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

10 ‘‘Definitions of Insured Status and Waiting Pe11 riod’’ and inserting ‘‘Definition of Insured Sta12 tus’’; 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘For purposes of this sec14 tion’’ and all that follows through ‘‘in any 

15 month if—’’ and inserting ‘‘For purposes of 

16 this section, an individual shall be insured for 

17 disability insurance benefits in any month if— 

18 ’’; 

19 (C) by striking paragraph (2); 

20 (D) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 

21 and (B) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively 

22 (and adjusting the margins accordingly); 

23 (E) in paragraph (2) (as so redesig24 nated)— 


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1 (i) by redesignating clauses (i), (ii), 

2 and (iii) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and 

3 (C), respectively; and 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (C) (as so redes5 ignated), by striking ‘‘clause (i)’’ and in6 serting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; and 

7 (F) in the matter following subparagraph 

8 (C) (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘subpara9 graph (B) of this paragraph’’ each place it ap10 pears and inserting ‘‘this paragraph’’. 

11 (b) PHASE-DOWN OF WAITING PERIOD FOR DIS12 ABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS.—For purposes of appli13 cations for disability insurance benefits filed on or after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act and before January 1, 

15 2028, section 223(c)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 423(c)(2)) shall be applied by making the following 

17 substitutions: 

18 (1) For applications filed in calendar years 

19 2023, 2024, or 2025, substitute ‘‘three’’ for ‘‘five’’ 

20 and ‘‘fifteenth’’ for ‘‘seventeenth’’ each place it ap21 pears. 

22 (2) For applications filed in calendar year 

23 2026, substitute ‘‘two’’ for ‘‘five’’ and ‘‘fourteenth’’ 

24 for ‘‘seventeenth’’ each place it appears. 


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1 (3) For applications filed in calendar year 

2 2027, substitute ‘‘one’’ for ‘‘five’’ and ‘‘thirteenth’’ 

3 for ‘‘seventeenth’’ each place it appears. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 subsection (a) shall take effect on January 1, 2028, and 

6 apply with respect to applications for disability insurance 

7 benefits filed on or after January 1, 2027. 

8 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Effective January 

9 1, 2028: 

10 (1) Section 223(a)(1)(A) of the Social Security 

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 423(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking 

12 ‘‘(c)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(c)’’. 

13 (2) Section 7(d)(3) of the Railroad Retirement 

14 Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231f(d)(3)) is amended by 

15 striking ‘‘223(c)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘223(c)’’. 

16 SEC. 3. MEDICARE ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS 

17 DURING WAITING PERIOD FOR SOCIAL SECU18 RITY DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS. 

19 (a) ELIMINATION OF WAITING PERIOD FOR CERTAIN

20 INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COV21 ERAGE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 226 the Social Secu23 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 426) is amended by adding at 

24 the end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(j)(1) For purposes of applying this section in the 

2 case of an eligible individual described in paragraph (2), 

3 the following special rules shall apply: 

4 ‘‘(A) Subsection (b)(2) shall be applied as if 

5 there were no requirement for any entitlement to 

6 benefits, or status, for a period of 24 months prior 

7 to receiving such benefits or status. 

8 ‘‘(B) The entitlement under such subsection 

9 shall be available retroactively to the first day of the 

10 first month (rather than twenty-fifth month) of enti11 tlement or status. 

12 ‘‘(C) Subsection (f) shall not be applied. 

13 ‘‘(2) For purposes of applying this section, an ‘eligi14 ble individual’ is an individual, with respect to a month— 

15 ‘‘(A) who has not yet attained the age of 65; 

16 ‘‘(B) who is entitled to benefits described in 

17 subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(2); and 

18 ‘‘(C) with respect to whom section 

19 5000A(e)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

20 1986 would apply if the reference to ‘8 percent’ in 

21 such section were a reference to ‘8.5 percent’.’’. 

22 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1811 

23 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395c) is 

24 amended— 


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1 (A) at the end of paragraph (2), by strik2 ing ‘‘and’’; 

3 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

4 inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(4) eligible individuals (as described in section 

8 226(j)(2)).’’. 

9 (b) SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD AND COVERAGE

10 APPLICATION FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT MIN11 IMUM ESSENTIAL COVERAGE.—Section 1837 of the Social 

12 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395p) is amended by adding at 

13 the end the following new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(o)(1) In applying this section in the case of an eligi15 ble individual who is entitled to benefits under part A pur16 suant to the operation of section 226(j), the following spe17 cial rules shall apply: 

18 ‘‘(A) The initial enrollment period under sub19 section (d) shall begin on the first day of the first 

20 month in which the individual satisfies the require21 ment of section 1836(a)(1). 

22 ‘‘(B) In applying subsection (g)(1), the initial 

23 enrollment period shall begin on the first day of the 

24 first month of entitlement to disability insurance 

25 benefits referred to in such subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(2) In applying this section in the case of an indi2 vidual who became entitled to benefits under part A, but 

3 had not been entitled to such benefits for a period of 24 

4 calendar months as of the date of enactment of the Stop 

5 the Wait Act of 2023, and is entitled to such benefits pur6 suant to the application of section 226(j), the initial enroll7 ment period under subsection (d) for such individual shall 

8 begin on the first day of the first month following the date 

9 of enactment of the Stop the Wait Act of 2023 and shall 

10 end seven months later.’’. 

Æ 


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