II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3400 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to permit disabled individuals 

to elect to receive disability insurance benefits during the disability insurance benefit waiting period, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 5, 2023 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself and Ms. COLLINS) 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 permit disabled individuals to elect to receive disability insurance 

benefits during the disability insurance benefit waiting 

period, 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 ‘‘We Can’t Wait Act 

5 of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELECTION TO RECEIVE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 223(a) of the Social Secu8 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 423) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter following 

2 subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘(i)’’ and all that fol3 lows through ‘‘, (ii) in’’ and inserting ‘‘(i) for each 

4 month beginning with the first month after the indi5 vidual’s waiting period (as defined in subsection 

6 (c)(2)) in which the individual becomes so entitled to 

7 such insurance benefits unless the individual elects 

8 to receive insurance benefits during such waiting pe9 riod in accordance with paragraph (3), (ii) in the 

10 case of an individual electing to receive insurance 

11 benefits during the individual’s waiting period pur12 suant to the preceding clause and in’’; 

13 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and section 

14 215(b)(2)(A)(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘, section 

15 215(b)(2)(A)(ii), and paragraph (3) of this sub16 section,’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(3)(A) An individual may elect to receive dis20 ability insurance benefits during the individual’s 

21 waiting period pursuant to paragraph (1) if such in22 dividual or their appointed representative makes 

23 such election in writing (which may include selecting 

24 an option on a benefit application form) during— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in the case of an individual who has 

2 applied for but not yet received a decision on 

3 their application for such disability insurance 

4 benefits before the date on which this para5 graph takes effect— 

6 ‘‘(I) the 45-day period following such 

7 date, or 

8 ‘‘(II) the 10-day period (if such period 

9 ends later than the end of the 45-day pe10 riod) following the date on which such in11 dividual receives a decision on such appli12 cation which is favorable to such indi13 vidual, 

14 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an individual applying 

15 for disability insurance benefits on or after the 

16 date on which this paragraph takes effect— 

17 ‘‘(I) the date on which such individual 

18 files an application for disability insurance 

19 benefit, or during the 10-day period fol20 lowing such date, 

21 ‘‘(II) the date on which such indi22 vidual requests reconsideration of the ini23 tial determination, or during the 10-day 

24 period following such date, or 


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1 ‘‘(III) the date on which such indi2 vidual requests a hearing by an adminis3 trative law judge, or during the 10-day pe4 riod following such date, 

5 ‘‘(iii) in the case of an individual whose in6 terest the Commissioner of Social Security de7 termines would be served by making payment of 

8 the individual’s benefit to a representative 

9 payee (within the meaning of section 205(j)), 

10 such individual’s election may be revoked or 

11 confirmed by such representative payee during 

12 the 10 day period beginning on the date on 

13 which such representative payee is selected, and 

14 ‘‘(iv) in the case of an individual who elects 

15 to receive disability insurance benefits during 

16 such individual’s waiting period pursuant to 

17 paragraph (1), the individual may revoke such 

18 election during the periods described in this 

19 subparagraph, except that in no event shall 

20 such elections or revocations occur in the first 

21 month of an established period of eligibility. 

22 ‘‘(B) In the case of an individual electing to re23 ceive a disability insurance benefit during the indi24 vidual’s waiting period pursuant to paragraph (1), 


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1 such individual’s disability insurance benefit for any 

2 month during or after such waiting period shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) be equal to the product of— 

4 ‘‘(I) the disability insurance benefit 

5 amount determined under paragraph (2) 

6 (as determined before application of this 

7 paragraph), multiplied by 

8 ‘‘(II) the percentage determined under 

9 subparagraph (C) for the month during 

10 which such individual first becomes enti11 tled to such disability insurance benefit, 

12 ‘‘(ii) continue unchanged for the entire pe13 riod of eligibility for such disability insurance 

14 benefit, and without the effect of recalculations 

15 described under subparagraph (C), and 

16 ‘‘(iii) if applicable, be paid as part of a 

17 claim of entitlement to past-due benefits under 

18 this title and included in the total dollar 

19 amount of such past-due benefits. 

20 ‘‘(C) The percentage determined under this 

21 subparagraph shall be— 

22 ‘‘(i) for any month in the 36-month period 

23 beginning with the first month that begins after 

24 the date that is 180 days after the date of en25 actment of this paragraph, 96 percent, and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) for any subsequent month, the per2 centage most recently certified by the Commis3 sioner under paragraph (D)(ii). 

4 ‘‘(D)(i) Not later than the end of the 36-month 

5 period described under subparagraph (C)(i), and not 

6 later than the end of every 5-year period thereafter, 

7 the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administra8 tion shall calculate a percentage such that the fiscal 

9 impact over a 75-year period upon the Federal Dis10 ability Insurance Trust Fund if all individuals who 

11 applied pursuant to paragraph (1) to receive dis12 ability insurance benefits made an election to receive 

13 benefits during their waiting periods is equal to the 

14 fiscal impact over such period upon such Trust 

15 Fund that would have been made if all individuals 

16 who applied had not made such election. 

17 ‘‘(ii) Not later than the end of the 36-month 

18 period described under subparagraph (C)(i), and not 

19 later than the end of every 5-year period thereafter, 

20 the Commissioner— 

21 ‘‘(I) if the percentage calculated by the 

22 Chief Actuary in accordance with clause (i) is 

23 greater than or equal to 91 percent, shall cer24 tify to the Managing Trustee such percentage, 

25 or 


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1 ‘‘(II) if such percentage is less than 91 

2 percent, may elect not to certify such percent3 age to the Managing Trustee. 

4 ‘‘(iii) Not later than 2 years after the Commis5 sioner elects not to certify any percentage calculated 

6 by the Chief Actuary, the Chief Actuary shall pre7 pare and deliver a report to Congress, including de8 tailed recommendations for administrative or legisla9 tive actions to permit individuals eligible for dis10 ability insurance benefits to receive disability insur11 ance benefits during the disability insurance benefit 

12 waiting period such that the fiscal impact over a 75- 

13 year period upon the Federal Disability Insurance 

14 Trust Fund is actuarially neutral. 

15 ‘‘(E) No election made or not made by an indi16 vidual pursuant to this paragraph shall be construed 

17 to have any effect on any benefits payable to any 

18 other individual on the basis of such individual’s 

19 wages and self-employment income. 

20 ‘‘(F) The Commissioner shall make available to 

21 the general public by posting on a website informa22 tion relating to electing to receive disability insur23 ance benefits during the waiting period, including a 

24 calculator which an individual may use to determine 

25 the effect of electing to receive disability insurance 


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1 benefits during the waiting period on the individual’s 

2 disability insurance benefit. 

3 ‘‘(G) Each application for entitlement to dis4 ability insurance benefits that may subject the indi5 vidual to the waiting period pursuant to paragraph 

6 (1) shall allow for new elections or revocations under 

7 this paragraph.’’. 

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall apply to applications for disability insur10 ance benefits that are made or pending on or after the 

11 first day of the first month that begins at least 180 days 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

13 (c) UPDATE TO SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY

14 FORMS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enact15 ment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security 

16 shall update the application forms for applying for dis17 ability insurance benefits to include an option for appli18 cants to elect to receive disability insurance benefits dur19 ing their waiting period. 

Æ 


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