II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2926 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the application 

of a consistent Medicare part B premium for all Medicare beneficiaries 

in a budget neutral manner for 2010, to provide an additional round 

of economic recovery payments to certain beneficiaries, and to assess 

the need for a consumer price index for elderly consumers to compute 

cost-of-living increases for certain governmental benefits. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 23, 2009 

Mrs. LINCOLN (for herself and Mr. SANDERS) 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 provide 

for the application of a consistent Medicare part B premium for all Medicare beneficiaries in a budget neutral 

manner for 2010, to provide an additional round of 

economic recovery payments to certain beneficiaries, and 

to assess the need for a consumer price index for elderly 

consumers to compute cost-of-living increases for certain 

governmental benefits. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Economic Fairness for 

3 Seniors Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. MEDICARE PART B PREMIUM FOR 2010. 

5 Section 1839 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 1395r) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

8 following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(5) The monthly premium under this subsection for 

10 2010 shall be the monthly premium under this subsection 

11 for 2009.’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (i)(3)(A), by adding after and 

13 below clause (ii) the following: 

14 ‘‘In applying clause (ii) for 2010, the monthly 

15 actuarial rate described in such clause shall be 

16 such monthly actuarial rate for 2009.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN ECONOMIC RECOVERY 

18 PAYMENTS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2201 of the American Re20 covery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 is amended— 

21 (1) by inserting ‘‘in each of calendar years 

22 2009 and 2010’’ after ‘‘the Secretary of the Treas23 ury shall disburse’’ in subsection (a)(1)(A); 

24 (2) by inserting ‘‘(for purposes of payments 

25 made for calendar year 2009), or the 3-month pe26 riod ending with the month which ends prior to the 


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1 month that includes the date of the enactment of the 

2 Economic Fairness for Seniors Act (for purposes of 

3 payments made for calendar year 2010)’’ after ‘‘the 

4 month that includes the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act’’ in subsection (a)(1)(A); 

6 (3) by inserting ‘‘(for purposes of payments 

7 made under this paragraph for calendar year 2009), 

8 or the 3 month period ending with the month which 

9 ends prior to the month that includes the date of the 

10 enactment of the Economic Fairness for Seniors Act 

11 (for purposes of payments made under this para12 graph for calendar year 2010)’’ after ‘‘the month 

13 that includes the date of the enactment of this Act’’ 

14 in subsection (a)(1)(B)(iii); 

15 (4) by inserting ‘‘for any calendar year’’ after 

16 ‘‘1 payment under this section’’ in subsection (a)(3); 

17 (5) by inserting ‘‘An individual who is entitled 

18 to, or eligible for, a benefit or cash payment de19 scribed in paragraph (1) in both of the 3-month pe20 riods described in paragraph (1)(A) shall be paid a 

21 payment under this section in each of calendar years 

22 2009 and 2010.’’ at the end of paragraph (3) of 

23 subsection (a); 


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1 (6) by inserting ‘‘IN SAME YEAR’’ after ‘‘NO

2 DOUBLE PAYMENTS’’ in the heading of paragraph 

3 (3) of subsection (a); 

4 (7) by inserting ‘‘applicable’’ before ‘‘3-month 

5 period’’ in subsection (a)(4)(A); 

6 (8) by inserting ‘‘applicable’’ before ‘‘3 month 

7 period’’ in subsection (a)(4)(B); 

8 (9) by inserting ‘‘for purposes of payments 

9 made for calendar year 2009, or after December 31, 

10 2011, for purposes of payments made for calendar 

11 year 2010,’’ after ‘‘December 31, 2010,’’ in sub12 section (a)(5)(B); 

13 (10) by striking ‘‘2011’’ in subsection (e) and 

14 inserting ‘‘2012’’; 

15 (11) by striking ‘‘$90,000,000’’ in subsection 

16 (e)(2)(B) and inserting ‘‘$135,000,000’’; 

17 (12) by striking ‘‘$1,400,000’’ in subsection 

18 (e)(3)(B) and inserting ‘‘$2,100,000’’; 

19 (13) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ in subsection 

20 (e)(4)(A)(ii) and inserting ‘‘$150,000’’; and 

21 (14) by striking ‘‘$7,100,000’’ in subsection 

22 (e)(4)(A)(ii) and inserting ‘‘$10,650,000’’. 

23 (b) EXTENSION OF SPECIAL CREDIT FOR CERTAIN

24 GOVERNMENT RETIREES.—In the case of an eligible indi25 vidual (as defined in section 2202(b) of the American ReVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:42 Dec 24, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2926.IS S2926

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1 covery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009, applied by sub2 stituting ‘‘2010’’ for ‘‘2009’’), with respect to the first 

3 taxable year of such individual beginning in 2010, section 

4 2202 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act 

5 of 2009 shall be applied by substituting ‘‘2010’’ for 

6 ‘‘2009’’ each place it appears. 

7 SEC. 4. CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR ELDERLY CON8 SUMERS. 

9 (a) STUDY.—The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the 

10 Department of Labor shall study whether a consumer 

11 price index for elderly consumers (CPI–E) more accu12 rately reflects the true costs of inflation for elderly Ameri13 cans than the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage 

14 Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI–W) and if the elderly 

15 are being financially disadvantaged by the use of the CPI– 

16 W in the determination of current benefit levels and, if 

17 so, shall prepare such a CPI–E. 

18 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Labor Statis20 tics of the Department of Labor shall report to Congress 

21 the results of the study required under subsection (a) and, 

22 if appropriate, the creation of a consumer price index for 

23 elderly consumers that more accurately reflects the true 

24 cost of inflation for the elderly. 


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1 SEC. 5. OFFSET THROUGH REDUCTION IN TARP FUNDS. 

2 Paragraph (3) of section 115(a) of the Emergency 

3 Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5225) is 

4 amended by striking ‘‘$1,259,000,000’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘$39,259,000,000’’. 

Æ 


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