II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2317 

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 

JULY 30, 2019 

Mr. MURPHY 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 2019’’. 

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 2018 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 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of Sen15 ate that the United States Congress must address the un16 fair exclusion of professional and hardworking home care 

17 providers who are not eligible to receive Social Security 

18 or Medicare because they provide paid care to a family 

19 member with a disability under programs operated at the 

20 State and local level for general health and welfare protec21 tion. 


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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 ‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A)(ii), as26 sistance provided to a family caregiver of an eligible 


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1 veteran under section 1720G of title 38, United 

2 States Code, shall not be considered monetary com3 pensation for providing care to such eligible veteran. 

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

5 connection with an individual— 

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

7 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 

8 or domestic partner), or a child to which the in9 dividual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 

10 partner is standing in loco parentis, who is 

11 under the age of 12; or 

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

13 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 

14 or domestic partner), a child to which the indi15 vidual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 

16 partner is standing in loco parentis, a parent, 

17 grandparent, sibling, aunt, or uncle (of such in18 dividual or his or her spouse or domestic part19 ner), or such individual’s spouse or domestic 

20 partner, if such child, grandchild, niece, neph21 ew, parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, 

22 spouse, or domestic partner is a chronically de23 pendent individual. 

24 ‘‘(3)(A) The term ‘chronically dependent indi25 vidual’ means an individual who— 


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

2 reminding, physical cueing, supervision, or 

3 other assistance provided to the individual by 

4 another person in the performance of at least 

5 two of the activities of daily living (described in 

6 subparagraph (B)) or instrumental activities of 

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

8 and 

9 ‘‘(ii) without the assistance described in 

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

11 daily living or instrumental activities of daily 

12 living. 

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

14 in subparagraph (A) means basic personal everyday 

15 activities, including— 

16 ‘‘(i) eating; 

17 ‘‘(ii) bathing; 

18 ‘‘(iii) dressing; 

19 ‘‘(iv) toileting; and 

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

21 and out of a chair. 

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

23 referred to in subparagraph (A) means activities re24 lated to living independently in the community, in25 cluding— 


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1 ‘‘(i) meal planning and preparation; 

2 ‘‘(ii) managing finances; 

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

4 essential items; 

5 ‘‘(iv) performing essential household 

6 chores; 

7 ‘‘(v) communicating by phone or other 

8 form of media; and 

9 ‘‘(vi) traveling around and participating in 

10 the community. 

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

12 purposes of determining entitlement to and the amount 

13 of any monthly benefit for any month after December 

14 2019, or entitlement to and the amount of any lump-sum 

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

16 payable under this title on the basis of the wages and self17 employment income of any individual, and for purposes 

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

19 have been paid during each qualifying month (in addition 

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

21 derived by such individual during such month) at an 

22 amount per month equal to— 

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

24 which no wages or self-employment income were ac25 tually paid to or derived by such individual, 50 perVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2317.IS S2317

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1 cent of the national average wage index (as defined 

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

3 preceding the calendar year in which such month oc4 curs; and 

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

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

over 1 7 ⁄2 of the wages or self-employment income ac8 tually paid to or derived by such individual during 

9 such month. 

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

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

12 such months shall be taken into account for purposes of 

13 this section. 

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

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

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

17 be payable without its application. 

18 ‘‘(c) RULES AND REGULATIONS.— 

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

20 the enactment of this section, the Commissioner of 

21 Social Security shall promulgate such regulations as 

22 are necessary to carry out this section and to pre23 vent fraud and abuse with respect to the benefits 

24 under this section, including regulations establishing 


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1 procedures for the application and certification re2 quirements described in paragraph (2). 

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

4 account under this section with respect to an indi5 vidual unless— 

6 ‘‘(A) the individual submits to the Com7 missioner of Social Security an application for 

8 benefits under this section that includes— 

9 ‘‘(i) the name and identifying infor10 mation of the dependent relative with re11 spect to whom the individual was engaged 

12 in providing care during such month; 

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

14 child under the age of 12, documentation 

15 from the physician of the dependent rel16 ative explaining why the dependent relative 

17 is a chronically dependent individual; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) such other information as the 

19 Commissioner may require to verify the 

20 status of the dependent relative; and 

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

22 of up to 12 consecutive qualifying months that 

23 occurs after the first period of 12 consecutive 

24 qualifying months, the individual certifies, in 

25 such form and manner as the Commissioner 


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1 shall require, that the information provided in 

2 the individual’s application for benefits under 

3 this section has not changed.’’. 

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

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

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

7 first time it appears; and 

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

9 ‘‘1977),’’. 

10 SEC. 4. PROMOTING STATE PROGRAMS TO PROVIDE MED11 ICAL TRAINING TO CAREGIVERS. 

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

13 Human Services is authorized to make grants to States 

14 to support State programs that provide medical training 

15 to individuals who provide care to dependent relatives 

16 without monetary compensation. 

17 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

19 necessary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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