I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4797
To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to direct the Commissioner
of Social Security to conduct outreach efforts to increase awareness
of the availability of Medicare cost-sharing assistance to eligible low-
income Medicare beneficiaries.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 29, 2000
Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky (for himself and Mr. FLETCHER) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means,
and in addition to the Committee on Commerce, for a period to be subse-
quently 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 XI of the Social Security Act to direct the
Commissioner of Social Security to conduct outreach ef-
forts to increase awareness of the availability of Medicare
cost-sharing assistance to eligible low-income Medicare
beneficiaries.
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 ‘‘Low-Income Widows
Assistance Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Since 1988, 3 cost-sharing payment pro-
grams that provide certain low-income elderly and
disabled individuals with financial assistance in cov-
ering medicare beneficiary costs under title XVIII of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.)
have been established by law.
(2) While eligibility for medicare cost-sharing
assistance has expanded, and while the Social Secu-
rity Administration, the Health Care Financing Ad-
ministration, and State agencies are working coop-
eratively to identify and implement reforms to cure
the chronic deficiencies associated with the programs
described in paragraph (1), reports have shown that
gaps in beneficiary knowledge and deficiencies in
program administration by Federal and State agen-
cies present persistent barriers to enrolling eligible
beneficiaries in such programs.
(3) The financial plight of social security and
medicare beneficiaries who experience critical income
shifts due to the death of a spouse is of particular
concern. Statistics furnished by the Social Security
Administration show that 40 percent of nonmarried
women (a category that includes widows) rely on so-
cial security benefits for 90 percent of their income
in comparison to only 18 percent of married couples.
Further, nearly 1⁄4 of nonmarried women rely on so-
cial security retirement benefits as their sole source
of income.
(4) While current reform proposals concentrate
on reaching potential eligible beneficiaries upon ini-
tial enrollment in social security or medicare, the fi-
nancial vulnerability of widowed spouses can arise at
any time after a senior has begun to receive retire-
ment benefits.
(5) Nearly every legislative proposal to provide
an outpatient prescription drug benefit under the
medicare program would provide additional financial
assistance to medicare beneficiaries who currently
qualify for assistance under medicare cost-sharing
programs.
SEC. 3. OUTREACH EFFORTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title XI of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after
section 1143 the following new section:
‘‘OUTREACH EFFORTS TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF THE
AVAILABILITY OF MEDICARE COST-SHARING
‘‘SEC. 1144. (a) OUTREACH.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of So-
cial Security (in this section referred to as the ‘Com-
missioner’) shall conduct outreach efforts to—
‘‘(A) identify individuals entitled to bene-
fits under the medicare program under title
XVIII who may be eligible for medical assist-
ance for payment of the cost of medicare cost-
sharing under the medicaid program pursuant
to sections 1902(a)(10)(E) and 1933; and
‘‘(B) notify such individuals of the avail-
ability of such medical assistance under such
sections.
‘‘(2) CONTENT
OF
NOTICE.—Any notice fur-
nished under paragraph (1) shall state that eligi-
bility for medicare cost-sharing assistance under
such sections is conditioned upon the individual pro-
viding an accurate statement as to whether or not
the individual has tax-exempt income, and, if so, the
amount of such income and, in the case of an indi-
vidual residing in a State that imposes an asset test
for such eligibility, the amount of countable assets
the individual has.
‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH STATES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In conducting the outreach
efforts under this section, the Commissioner shall—
‘‘(A) furnish the appropriate agency of
each State with information consisting of the
identity of individuals residing in the State that