I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1252 
To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to provide for the annual 
mailing of statements of Medicare beneficiary part A contributions and 
benefits in coordination with the annual mailing of Social Security ac-
count statements. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 30, 2011 
Mr. COOPER (for himself and Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, 
and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to provide 
for the annual mailing of statements of Medicare bene-
ficiary part A contributions and benefits in coordination 
with the annual mailing of Social Security account state-
ments. 
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 ‘‘Medicare Information 
Act of 2011’’. 
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SEC. 2. ANNUAL MEDICARE BENEFICIARY PART A CON-
TRIBUTIONS AND BENEFITS STATEMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title XI of the Social 
Security Act is amended by inserting after section 1143 
(42 U.S.C. 1320b–13) the following new section: 
‘‘ANNUAL MEDICARE BENEFICIARY PART A 
CONTRIBUTIONS AND BENEFITS STATEMENTS 
‘‘SEC. 1143A. (a) PROVISION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 2 
years after the date of the enactment of this section, 
the Secretary, in coordination with the Commis-
sioner of Social Security, shall provide a statement 
described in subsection (b) (in this section referred 
to as an ‘annual Medicare part A information state-
ment’) on an annual basis to each eligible individual 
(as defined in subsection (d)) for whom a current 
mailing address can be determined through such 
methods as the Secretary determines to be appro-
priate. 
‘‘(2) COORDINATION IN SINGLE MAILING WITH 
SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT STATEMENTS.—In order 
to avoid sending separate statements under this sec-
tion and section 1143 in the case of an individual 
for whom a social security account statement is pro-
vided under section 1143 and a separate annual 
Medicare part A information statement would other-
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wise be provided under this section, the Secretary 
shall coordinate with the Commissioner of Social Se-
curity, whether through transmittal of data or other-
wise, in a manner so that the annual Medicare part 
A information statement is included and sent with 
such social security account statement. 
‘‘(3) METHODOLOGY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con-
sultation with the Commissioner of Social Secu-
rity and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall 
specify the methodology to be used in esti-
mating lifetime contributions and lifetime bene-
fits with respect to annual Medicare part A in-
formation statements. Such methodology for 
computing the lifespan of an individual shall be 
the same methodology used for purposes of the 
social security account statement under section 
1143. 
‘‘(B) INCLUSION
OF
DESCRIPTION
IN 
STATEMENT.—The Secretary shall include a 
brief description of the key assumptions used in 
such methodology in the annual Medicare part 
A information statements. 
‘‘(4) SUMMARY
OF
MEDICARE
PART
A
PRO-
GRAM.—Each annual Medicare part A information 
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statement shall include a summary of part A of the 
Medicare program. Such summary shall also include 
a summary description of benefits and enrollment 
options under parts B, C, and D of title XVIII, but 
shall indicate that the information described in sub-
section (b) does not include information related to 
contributions and benefits under those parts. 
‘‘(b) MEDICARE PART A INFORMATION STATEMENT 
DESCRIBED.—In addition to the information described in 
paragraphs (3)(B) and (4) of subsection (a), each annual 
Medicare part A information statement for an eligible in-
dividual shall contain the following: 
‘‘(1) HI 
EMPLOYEE
CONTRIBUTIONS.—The 
total 
contributions 
described 
in 
section 
1143(a)(2)(C) for the individual— 
‘‘(A) for the most recent year for which 
data are available; 
‘‘(B) to the extent feasible, for previous pe-
riods through the end of such year; and 
‘‘(C) as projected for the individual during 
the individual’s lifetime. 
To the extent feasible, of such total contributions 
the portion that is attributable to employer, em-
ployee, and self-employment contributions. 
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‘‘(2) MEDICARE
PART
A
BENEFITS.—In the 
case of an eligible individual— 
‘‘(A) who, for such most recent year, was 
entitled to benefits under part A of title XVIII, 
the total value of such benefits provided to the 
individual under such part as of the end of such 
year and, to the extent feasible, the total value 
of such benefits for such individual for previous 
periods through the end of such year; and 
‘‘(B) an estimate of the actuarial value of 
the expected benefits under such part for the 
individual during the individual’s lifetime, in-
cluding (but stated separately) any benefits de-
scribed in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(3) COMPARISON.—An appropriate comparison 
of such contributions with such benefits. 
‘‘(c) RECORDS RETENTION.—The Secretary shall 
provide for the indefinite retention of information that— 
‘‘(1) is described in subsection (b), including 
benefits described in subsection (b)(2); and 
‘‘(2) the Secretary has not discarded as of the 
date of the enactment of this section. 
‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘eligible individual’ means an individual— 
‘‘(1) who has a social security account number; 
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‘‘(2) who has attained age 25 or over; and 
‘‘(3) who is entitled to benefits under part A of 
title XVIII or who, as of the end of the most recent 
year referred to in subsection (b)(1)(A), has had any 
contributions described in subsection (b)(1) made 
with respect to the individual during such year or a 
previous year.’’. 
(b) INCLUSION
OF
SOCIAL
SECURITY
ACCOUNT 
STATEMENT FOR THOSE RECEIVING ANNUAL MEDICARE 
PART A INFORMATION STATEMENT.—Section 1143(a)(3) 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–13(a)(3)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘Such term includes an individual not described in the 
previous sentence who is an eligible individual (as defined 
in subsection (d) of section 1143A) for whom an annual 
Medicare part A information statement is provided under 
such section.’’. 
Æ 
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