II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 320 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BROWN, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. WARREN, Mr. REED, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. 

HIRONO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following 

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

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’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•S 320 IS

1 SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF DISABILITY WAITING PERIOD FOR 

2 SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE 

3 BENEFITS. 

4 (a) ELIMINATION OF WAITING PERIOD FOR DIS5 ABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS.—Section 223 of the So6 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1), in the matter fol9 lowing subparagraph (E)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘disability insurance 

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

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

13 ‘‘disability insurance benefit’’; and 

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

15 that follows through ‘‘under such dis16 ability’’; and 

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

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

19 that follows through ‘‘such disability insurance 

20 benefits,’’ and inserting ‘‘as though the indi21 vidual had attained age 62 in the first month 

22 for which the individual becomes entitled to 

23 such disability insurance benefits,’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (c)— 

25 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

26 ‘‘DEFINITIONS OF INSURED STATUS AND


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•S 320 IS

1 WAITING PERIOD’’ and inserting ‘‘DEFINITION

2 OF INSURED STATUS’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘For purposes of this sec4 tion’’ and all that follows through ‘‘in any 

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

6 this section, an individual shall be insured for 

7 disability insurance benefits in any month if— 

8 ’’; 

9 (C) by striking paragraph (2); 

10 (D) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 

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

12 (and adjusting the margins accordingly); 

13 (E) in paragraph (2) (as so redesig14 nated)— 

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

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

17 (C), respectively; and 

18 (ii) in subparagraph (C) (as so redes19 ignated), by striking ‘‘clause (i)’’ and in20 serting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; and 

21 (F) in the matter following subparagraph 

22 (C) (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘subpara23 graph (B) of this paragraph’’ each place it ap24 pears and inserting ‘‘this paragraph’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•S 320 IS

1 (b) PHASE-DOWN OF WAITING PERIOD FOR DIS2 ABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS.—For purposes of appli3 cations for disability insurance benefits filed on or after 

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

5 2028, section 223(c)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 

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

7 substitutions: 

8 (1) For applications filed in calendar year 

9 2023, 2024, or 2025, substitute ‘‘three’’ for ‘‘five’’ 

10 and ‘‘fifteenth’’ for ‘‘seventeenth’’ each place it ap11 pears. 

12 (2) For applications filed in calendar year 

13 2026, substitute ‘‘two’’ for ‘‘five’’ and ‘‘fourteenth’’ 

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

15 (3) For applications filed in calendar year 

16 2027, substitute ‘‘one’’ for ‘‘five’’ and ‘‘thirteenth’’ 

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

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

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

20 apply with respect to applications for disability insurance 

21 benefits filed on or after January 1, 2028. 

22 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Effective January 

23 1, 2028: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•S 320 IS

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

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

3 ‘‘(c)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(c)’’. 

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

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

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

7 SEC. 3. MEDICARE ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS 

8 DURING WAITING PERIOD FOR SOCIAL SECU9 RITY DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS. 

10 (a) ELIMINATION OF WAITING PERIOD FOR CERTAIN

11 INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COV12 ERAGE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 226 the Social Secu14 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 426) is amended by adding at 

15 the end the following new subsection: 

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

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

18 the following special rules shall apply: 

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

20 there were no requirement for any entitlement to 

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

22 to receiving such benefits or status. 

23 ‘‘(B) The entitlement under such subsection 

24 shall be available retroactively to the first day of the 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•S 320 IS

1 first month (rather than twenty-fifth month) of enti2 tlement or status. 

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

4 ‘‘(2) For purposes of applying this section, an ‘eligi5 ble individual’ is an individual, with respect to a month— 

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

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

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

9 ‘‘(C) with respect to whom section 

10 5000A(e)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

11 1986 would apply if the reference to ‘8 percent’ in 

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

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1811 

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

15 amended— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para17 graph (2); and 

18 (B) by inserting the following before the 

19 period at the end: ‘‘, and (4) eligible individuals 

20 (as described in section 226(j)(2))’’. 

21 (b) SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD AND COVERAGE

22 APPLICATION FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT MIN23 IMUM ESSENTIAL COVERAGE.—Section 1837 of the Social 

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

25 the end the following new subsection: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•S 320 IS

1 ‘‘(p)(1) In applying this section in the case of an eligi2 ble individual who is entitled to benefits under part A pur3 suant to the operation of section 226(j), the following spe4 cial rules shall apply: 

5 ‘‘(A) The initial enrollment period under sub6 section (d) shall begin on the first day of the first 

7 month in which the individual satisfies the require8 ment of section 1836(a)(1). 

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

10 enrollment period shall begin on the first day of the 

11 first month of entitlement to disability insurance 

12 benefits referred to in such subsection. 

13 ‘‘(2) In applying this section in the case of an indi14 vidual who became entitled to benefits under part A, but 

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

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

17 the Wait Act of 2023, and is entitled to such benefits pur18 suant to the application of section 226(j), the initial enroll19 ment period under subsection (d) for such individual shall 

20 begin on the first day of the first month following such 

21 date of enactment and shall end seven months later.’’. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB