I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4126 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2019 

Mrs. LOWEY 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 

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 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REP2 RESENTATIVES. 

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that: 

4 (1) Caregiving is an essential element of family 

5 life and a vital service for children, the ill, the dis6 abled, and the elderly. 

7 (2) The establishment of a caregiver credit 

8 would bolster the economic prospects of unpaid care9 givers and would provide them with vital retirement 

10 security. 

11 (3) The 2018 Annual Report of the Board of 

12 Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors In13 surance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust 

14 Funds concluded that the combined Trust Funds 

15 will be able to pay scheduled benefits in full until 

16 2034. 

17 (b) SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 

18 It is the sense of House of Representatives that the United 

19 States Congress must address the unfair exclusion of pro20 fessional and hardworking home care providers who are 

21 not eligible to receive Social Security or Medicare because 

22 they provide paid care to a family member with a disability 

23 under programs operated at the State and local level for 

24 general health and welfare protection. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT 

2 RELATIVES. 

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

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

5 the following new section: 

6 ‘‘DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT

7 RELATIVES

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

9 section— 

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

11 ‘qualifying month’ means, in connection with an in12 dividual, any month— 

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

14 months prior to the date of the enactment of 

15 the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 

16 2019; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) during which such individual was en18 gaged for not less than 80 hours in providing 

19 care to a dependent relative without monetary 

20 compensation. 

21 ‘‘(B) The term ‘qualifying month’ does not in22 clude any month ending after the date on which 

23 such individual attains retirement age (as defined in 

24 section 216(l)). 

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

26 connection with an individual— 


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

2 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 

3 or domestic partner), or a child to which the in4 dividual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 

5 partner is standing in loco parentis, who is 

6 under the age of 12; or 

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

8 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 

9 or domestic partner), a child to which the indi10 vidual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 

11 partner is standing in loco parentis, a parent, 

12 grandparent, sibling, aunt, or uncle (of such in13 dividual or his or her spouse or domestic part14 ner), or such individual’s spouse or domestic 

15 partner, if such child, grandchild, niece, neph16 ew, parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, 

17 spouse, or domestic partner is a chronically de18 pendent individual. 

19 ‘‘(3)(A) The term ‘chronically dependent indi20 vidual’ means an individual who— 

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

22 reminding, physical cueing, supervision, or 

23 other assistance provided to the individual by 

24 another person in the performance of at least 

25 two of the activities of daily living (described in 


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1 subparagraph (B)) or instrumental activities of 

2 daily living (described in subparagraph (C)); 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) without the assistance described in 

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

6 daily living or instrumental activities of daily 

7 living. 

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

9 in subparagraph (A) means basic personal everyday 

10 activities, including— 

11 ‘‘(i) eating; 

12 ‘‘(ii) bathing; 

13 ‘‘(iii) dressing; 

14 ‘‘(iv) toileting; and 

15 ‘‘(v) transferring in and out of a bed or in 

16 and out of a chair. 

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

18 referred to in subparagraph (A) means activities re19 lated to living independently in the community, in20 cluding— 

21 ‘‘(i) meal planning and preparation; 

22 ‘‘(ii) managing finances; 

23 ‘‘(iii) shopping for food, clothing, or other 

24 essential items; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) performing essential household 

2 chores; 

3 ‘‘(v) communicating by phone or other 

4 form of media; and 

5 ‘‘(vi) traveling around and participating in 

6 the community. 

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

8 purposes of determining entitlement to and the amount 

9 of any monthly benefit for any month after December 

10 2019, or entitlement to and the amount of any lump-sum 

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

12 payable under this title on the basis of the wages and self13 employment income of any individual, and for purposes 

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

15 have been paid during each qualifying month (in addition 

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

17 derived by such individual during such month) at an 

18 amount per month equal to— 

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

20 which no wages or self-employment income were ac21 tually paid to or derived by such individual, 50 per22 cent of the national average wage index (as defined 

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

24 preceding the calendar year in which such month oc25 curs; and 


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

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

over 1 3 ⁄2 of the wages or self-employment income ac4 tually paid to or derived by such individual during 

5 such month. 

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

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

8 such months shall be taken into account for purposes of 

9 this section. 

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

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

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

13 be payable without its application. 

14 ‘‘(3) Any assistance or support services provided to 

15 caregivers under section 1720G of title 38, United States 

16 Code, shall not be considered wages or self-employment 

17 income for the purposes of determining entitlement to and 

18 the amount of any monthly benefit payable under this sub19 section. 

20 ‘‘(c) RULES AND REGULATIONS.— 

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

22 the enactment of this section, the Commissioner of 

23 Social Security shall promulgate such regulations as 

24 are necessary to carry out this section and to pre25 vent fraud and abuse with respect to the benefits 


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1 under this section, including regulations establishing 

2 procedures for the application and certification re3 quirements described in paragraph (2). 

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

5 account under this section with respect to an indi6 vidual unless— 

7 ‘‘(A) the individual submits to the Com8 missioner of Social Security an application for 

9 benefits under this section that includes— 

10 ‘‘(i) the name and identifying infor11 mation of the dependent relative with re12 spect to whom the individual was engaged 

13 in providing care during such month; 

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

15 child under the age of 12, documentation 

16 from the physician of the dependent rel17 ative explaining why the dependent relative 

18 is a chronically dependent individual; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) such other information as the 

20 Commissioner may require to verify the 

21 status of the dependent relative; and 

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

23 of up to 12 consecutive qualifying months that 

24 occurs after the first period of 12 consecutive 

25 qualifying months, the individual certifies, in 


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1 such form and manner as the Commissioner 

2 shall require, that the information provided in 

3 the individual’s application for benefits under 

4 this section has not changed.’’. 

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

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

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

8 first time it appears; and 

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

10 ‘‘1977),’’. 

11 SEC. 4. PROMOTING STATE PROGRAMS TO PROVIDE MED12 ICAL TRAINING TO CAREGIVERS. 

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

14 Human Services is authorized to make grants to States 

15 to support State programs that provide medical training 

16 to individuals who provide care to dependent relatives 

17 without monetary compensation. 

18 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

20 necessary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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