II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3675 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a system 

to notify individuals approaching Medicare eligibility. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2022 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. YOUNG, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. 

SINEMA, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. BROWN, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish 

a system to notify individuals approaching Medicare eligibility. 

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 ‘‘Beneficiary Enrollment 

5 Notification and Eligibility Simplification 2.0 Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘BENES 2.0 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. BENEFICIARY ENROLLMENT NOTIFICATION AND 

8 ELIGIBILITY SIMPLIFICATION. 

9 (a) ELIGIBILITY AND ENROLLMENT NOTICES.— 


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1 (1) AS PART OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT

2 STATEMENT FOR INDIVIDUALS ATTAINING AGES 60

3 TO 65.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 1143(a) of the 

5 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–13(a)) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following 

7 new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(4) MEDICARE ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of state10 ments provided on or after the date that is 2 

11 years after the date of the enactment of this 

12 paragraph to individuals who are attaining ages 

13 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 and 65, the statement shall 

14 also include a notice containing the information 

15 described in subparagraph (B). 

16 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF NOTICE.—The notice 

17 required under subparagraph (A) shall include 

18 a clear, simple explanation of— 

19 ‘‘(i) eligibility for benefits under the 

20 Medicare program under title XVIII, and 

21 in particular benefits under part B of such 

22 title; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the reasons a late enrollment 

24 penalty for failure to timely enroll could be 

25 assessed and how such late enrollment penVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Feb 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3675.IS S3675

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1 alty is calculated, in particular for benefits 

2 under such part B; 

3 ‘‘(iii) the availability of relief from 

4 such late enrollment penalty and retro5 active enrollment under section 1837(h) 

6 (including as such section is applied under 

7 sections 1818(c) and 1818A(c)(3)), with 

8 examples of circumstances under which 

9 such relief may be granted and examples of 

10 circumstances under which such relief 

11 would not be granted; 

12 ‘‘(iv) coordination of benefits (includ13 ing primary and secondary coverage sce14 narios) pursuant to section 1862(b), in 

15 particular for benefits under such part B; 

16 ‘‘(v) enrollment, eligibility, and coordi17 nation of benefits under title XVIII with 

18 respect to populations, for whom there are 

19 special considerations, such as residents of 

20 Puerto Rico and veterans; and 

21 ‘‘(vi) online resources and toll-free 

22 telephone numbers of the Social Security 

23 Administration and the Centers for Medi24 care & Medicaid Services (including 1– 

25 800–MEDICARE and the national toll-free 


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1 number of the Social Security Administra2 tion) that provide information on eligibility 

3 for benefits under the Medicare program 

4 under title XVIII. 

5 ‘‘(C) DEVELOPMENT OF NOTICE.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in 

7 coordination with the Commissioner of So8 cial Security, and taking into consideration 

9 information collected pursuant to clause 

10 (ii), shall, not later than 12 months after 

11 the last day of the period for the request 

12 of information described in clause (ii), de13 velop the notice to be provided pursuant to 

14 subparagraph (A). 

15 ‘‘(ii) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION.— 

16 Not later than 6 months after the date of 

17 the enactment of this paragraph, the Sec18 retary shall request written information, 

19 including recommendations, from stake20 holders (including the groups described in 

21 subparagraph (D)) on the information to 

22 be included in the notice. 

23 ‘‘(iii) NOTICE IMPROVEMENT.—Begin24 ning 4 years after the date of the enact25 ment of this paragraph, and not less than 


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1 once every 2 years thereafter, the Sec2 retary, in coordination with the Commis3 sioner of Social Security, shall— 

4 ‘‘(I) review the content of the no5 tice to be provided under subpara6 graph (A); 

7 ‘‘(II) request written information, 

8 including recommendations, on such 

9 notice through a request for informa10 tion process as described in clause (ii); 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(III) update and revise such no13 tice as the Secretary deems appro14 priate. 

15 ‘‘(D) GROUPS.—For purposes of subpara16 graph (C)(ii), the groups described in this sub17 paragraph include the following: 

18 ‘‘(i) Individuals who are 60 years of 

19 age or older. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Veterans. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Individuals with disabilities. 

22 ‘‘(iv) Individuals with end stage renal 

23 disease. 

24 ‘‘(v) Low-income individuals and fami25 lies. 


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1 ‘‘(vi) Employers (including human re2 sources professionals). 

3 ‘‘(vii) States (including representa4 tives of State-run Health Insurance Ex5 changes, Medicaid offices, and Depart6 ments of Insurance). 

7 ‘‘(viii) State Health Insurance Assist8 ance Programs. 

9 ‘‘(ix) Health insurers. 

10 ‘‘(x) Health insurance agents and bro11 kers. 

12 ‘‘(xi) Such other groups as specified 

13 by the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(E) POSTING OF NOTICE ON WEBSITES.— 

15 The Commissioner of Social Security and the 

16 Secretary shall post the notice required under 

17 subparagraph (A) on the public internet website 

18 of the Social Security Administration and on 

19 Medicare.gov (or a successor website), respec20 tively. 

21 ‘‘(F) NO EFFECT ON OBLIGATION TO MAIL

22 STATEMENTS.—Nothing in this paragraph shall 

23 be construed to relieve the Commissioner of So24 cial Security from any requirement under sub25 section (c), including the requirement to mail a 


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1 statement on an annual basis to each eligible 

2 individual who is not receiving benefits under 

3 title II and for whom a mailing address can be 

4 determined through such methods as the Com5 missioner determines to be appropriate.’’. 

6 (B) TIMING OF STATEMENTS.—Section 

7 1143(c)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 1320b–13(c)(2)) is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘With 

10 respect to statements provided to individuals 

11 who are attaining age 65, as described in sub12 section (a)(4), such statements shall be mailed 

13 not earlier than 6 months and not later than 3 

14 months before the individual attains such age.’’. 

15 (2) SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES.—Title 

16 XI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1301 et 

17 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 1144 the 

18 following new section: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 1144A. MEDICARE ENROLLMENT NOTIFICATION AND 

20 ELIGIBILITY NOTICES FOR SOCIAL SECURITY 

21 BENEFICIARIES PRIOR TO MEDICARE ELIGI22 BILITY. 

23 ‘‘(a) NOTICES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of So25 cial Security shall distribute the notice to be proVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Feb 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3675.IS S3675

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1 vided pursuant to section 1143(a)(4), as may be 

2 modified under paragraph (2), to individuals entitled 

3 to monthly insurance benefits under title II in ac4 cordance with subsection (b). 

5 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO MODIFY NOTICE.—The 

6 Secretary, in coordination with the Commissioner of 

7 Social Security, may modify the notice to be distrib8 uted under paragraph (1) as necessary to take into 

9 account the individuals described in such paragraph. 

10 ‘‘(3) POSTING OF NOTICE ON WEBSITES.—The 

11 Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary 

12 shall post the notice required to be distributed under 

13 paragraph (1) on the public internet website of the 

14 Social Security Administration and on Medicare.gov 

15 (or a successor website), respectively. 

16 ‘‘(b) TIMING.—Beginning not later than 2 years after 

17 the date of the enactment of this section, a notice required 

18 under subsection (a)(1) shall be mailed to an individual 

19 described in such subsection— 

20 ‘‘(1) in the third month before the date on 

21 which such individual’s initial enrollment period be22 gins as provided under section 1837; and 

23 ‘‘(2) in the case of an individual with respect to 

24 whom section 226(b) applies (except for an indi25 vidual who will attain age 65 during the 24 month 


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1 period described in such section), in the month be2 fore such date on which such individual’s initial en3 rollment period so begins.’’. 

Æ 


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