I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2575 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a system 
to educate individuals approaching Medicare eligibility, to simplify and 
modernize the eligibility enrollment process, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 19, 2017 
Mr. RUIZ (for himself, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. PAS-
CRELL, and Ms. DELBENE) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined 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 XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish 
a system to educate individuals approaching Medicare 
eligibility, to simplify and modernize the eligibility enroll-
ment process, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Beneficiary Enrollment 
Notification and Eligibility Simplification Act of 2017’’ or 
the ‘‘BENES Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY AND ENROLLMENT NOTIFICATION. 
(a) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 1804 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395b–2) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(1) COORDINATION
OF
NOTICE.—The Sec-
retary, in consultation with representatives of each 
of the groups described in paragraph (2)(A), and in 
coordination with the Commissioner of Social Secu-
rity and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall prepare 
and distribute a notice, in accordance with this sub-
section, to potentially eligible Medicare individuals. 
‘‘(2) GROUPS FOR CONSULTATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para-
graph (1), the groups described in this subpara-
graph include the following: 
‘‘(i) Individuals who are more than 60 
years of age. 
‘‘(ii) Individuals with disabilities. 
‘‘(iii) Individuals with end stage renal 
disease. 
‘‘(iv) Low-income individuals and fam-
ilies. 
‘‘(v) Employers (including human re-
sources professionals). 
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‘‘(vi) States (including representatives 
of State-run Health Insurance Exchanges, 
Medicaid offices, and Departments of In-
surance). 
‘‘(vii) State Health Insurance Assist-
ance Programs. 
‘‘(viii) Health insurers. 
‘‘(ix) Health insurance agents and 
brokers. 
‘‘(x) Such other groups as specified by 
the Secretary. 
‘‘(B) NONAPPLICATION
OF
FACA.—The 
Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply 
to consultations made pursuant to paragraph 
(1) with groups described in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(3) CONTENTS
OF
NOTICE.—The notice re-
quired under paragraph (1) shall contain informa-
tion on (including a clear, simple explanation of)— 
‘‘(A)(i) eligibility for benefits under this 
title, and in particular benefits under part B; 
‘‘(ii) the possibility of a late enrollment 
penalty for failure to timely enroll (including 
the availability of equitable relief); and 
‘‘(iii) how to access the Webpage described 
in paragraph (5); and 
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‘‘(B) the need for coordination of benefits 
under part B (including secondary and primary 
coverage scenarios) imposed under this title, in-
cluding the effects of enrollment in retiree 
health coverage; group health coverage; cov-
erage under a group health plan provided by an 
employer pursuant to title XXII of the Public 
Health Service Act, section 4980B of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986, or title VI of the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
1974; coverage under a qualified health plan of-
fered through an Exchange established under 
title I of the Patient Protection and Affordable 
Care Act; and other widely available coverage 
which may be available to potentially eligible 
Medicare individuals. 
‘‘(4) TIMING
OF
NOTICE
TO
POTENTIAL
EN-
ROLLEES.—Beginning one year after the date of the 
enactment of this subsection, a notice required 
under paragraph (1) shall be mailed to each poten-
tially eligible Medicare individual no less than two 
times in accordance with the following: 
‘‘(A) The notice shall be provided to such 
individual on the same schedule and in com-
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bination with the individual’s social security 
statement. 
‘‘(B) In the case that the individual does 
not receive a social security statement, such no-
tice shall be mailed no later than 3 months 
prior to the date of such individual’s initial en-
rollment period as provided under section 1837 
and shall subsequently be provided to such indi-
vidual no later than one month prior to such 
date. 
‘‘(5) CREATION OF A CENTRALIZED ENROLL-
MENT WEBPAGE.—The information contained in no-
tices required under this subsection shall be made 
available through a new Webpage to be maintained 
by the Secretary. Such Webpage shall include both 
Social Security and Medicare online tools in a co-
ordinated and organized manner, and shall also con-
tain, or link to, such other eligibility tools, services, 
notices (including with respect to the availability of 
equitable relief), and other information as deter-
mined by the Secretary, in consultation with groups 
described in paragraph (2) for the purposes of being 
available to potentially eligible Medicare individuals. 
‘‘(6) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—Beginning 
not later than 2 months after the date of the enact-
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ment of this subsection, the Secretary, along with 
the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commissioner 
of the Social Security Administration, shall under-
take all necessary action and coordination to identify 
potentially eligible individuals and in order to pro-
vide such individuals with notifications under this 
subsection in accordance with paragraph (4). 
‘‘(7) NOTIFICATION IMPROVEMENT.—The Sec-
retary shall, no less than once every fiscal year, re-
view the content of the notices required under this 
subsection and the practices of providing such no-
tices to individuals, and shall update and revise such 
notices and practices as the Secretary deems appro-
priate. 
‘‘(8) POTENTIALLY ELIGIBLE MEDICARE INDI-
VIDUAL DEFINED.—For purposes of this subsection, 
the term ‘potentially eligible Medicare individual’ 
means an individual, with respect to a month, who 
is expected to satisfy the description in paragraph 
(1) or (2) of section 1836 during such month or 
during any of the subsequent 11 months.’’. 
(b) DISCLOSURE AUTHORITY.—Section 6103(l) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 
at the end the following new paragraph: 
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‘‘(23) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION 
TO CARRY OUT ELIGIBILITY NOTIFICATION REQUIRE-
MENTS FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, upon 
request from the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, shall disclose to officers, em-
ployees, and contractors of the Department of 
Health and Human Services and the Social Se-
curity Administration return information of any 
taxpayer who is a potentially eligible Medicare 
individual (as defined in section 1804(d)(8) of 
the Social Security Act). Such return informa-
tion shall be limited to— 
‘‘(i) taxpayer identity information 
with respect to such taxpayer, including 
the age and address or other location of 
such taxpayer; 
‘‘(ii) the filing status of such tax-
payer; 
‘‘(iii) such other information as is pre-
scribed by the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services by regulation as might in-
dicate whether the taxpayer is eligible for 
coverage under such title; and 
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‘‘(iv) the taxable year with respect to 
which the preceding information relates or, 
if applicable, the fact that such informa-
tion is not available. 
‘‘(B) RESTRICTION ON USE OF DISCLOSED 
INFORMATION.—Return information disclosed 
under subparagraph (A) may be used by offi-
cers, employees, and contractors of the Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services or the So-
cial Security Administration only for the pur-
poses of, and to the extent necessary in, estab-
lishing potential eligibility for benefits under 
title XVIII of the Social Security Act.’’. 
(c) COMPUTER MATCHING AGREEMENT.—Not later 
than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury, and the Commissioner of Social 
Security shall enter into a computer matching agreement 
pursuant to section 552a(o) of title 5 of the United States 
Code for the purposes of implementing section 1804(d) of 
the Social Security Act, as added by subsection (a), and 
section 6103(l)(23) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 
as added by subsection (b). 
(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 4 years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
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of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of the 
Treasury, and the Commissioner of Social Security shall 
submit to Congress a report on the process taken by the 
relevant agencies in implementing the notice requirement 
under subsection (d) of section 1804 of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1395b–2), as added by subsection (a) of 
this section, the status of notices created pursuant to such 
section, and an evaluation of the effect of such notices on 
enrollment under title XVIII of the Social Security Act. 
Such report shall be made publicly available. 
SEC. 3. BENEFICIARY MEDICARE PART B ENROLLMENT PE-
RIODS AND EFFECTIVE DATE OF COVERAGE. 
(a) EFFECTIVE DATES.—Section 1838(a) of the So-
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395q(a)) is amended— 
(1) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(2)(A) in the case of an individual who enrolls 
pursuant to subsection (d) of section 1837 before 
the month in which he first satisfies paragraph (1) 
or (2) of section 1836, the first day of such month, 
‘‘(B) in the case of an individual not described 
in subparagraph (A) who first satisfies such para-
graph in a month beginning before January 2019 
and who enrolls— 
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‘‘(i) pursuant to such subsection (d) in 
such month in which he first satisfies such 
paragraph, the first day of the month following 
the month in which he so enrolls, 
‘‘(ii) pursuant to such subsection (d) in the 
month following such month in which he first 
satisfies such paragraph, the first day of the 
second month following the month in which he 
so enrolls, or 
‘‘(iii) pursuant to such subsection (d) more 
than one month following such month in which 
he satisfies such paragraph, the first day of the 
third month following the month in which he so 
enrolls, 
‘‘(C) in the case of an individual not described 
in subparagraph (A) who enrolls pursuant to sub-
section (e) of section 1837 in a month beginning be-
fore January 2019, the July 1 following the month 
in which he so enrolls, 
‘‘(D) in the case of an individual not described 
in subparagraph (A) who first satisfies such para-
graph in a month beginning on or after January 1, 
2019, and who enrolls pursuant to such subsection 
(d) in such month in which he first satisfies such 
paragraph or in any subsequent month, the first day 
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by striking ‘‘close of the enrollment period’’ each place it 
appears and inserting ‘‘close of the month’’. 
Æ 
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