119-hr930

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 930 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 930

 To amend titles II and XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate 
 the disability insurance benefits waiting period for individuals with 
 disabilities, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 4, 2025

 Mr. Doggett (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Ansari, Ms. Barragan, 
 Mr. Beyer, Mr. Bishop, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. 
 Brownley, Mr. Carson, Mr. Casar, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Castro of 
 Texas, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Crow, Mr. 
Davis of Illinois, Mrs. McClain Delaney, Ms. DeLauro, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. 
Escobar, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mr. Fields, Mrs. Fletcher, 
Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Golden 
of Maine, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Green of Texas, 
Mr. Grijalva, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Johnson 
 of Georgia, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lynch, Mr. 
Magaziner, Mrs. McBath, Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Norcross, 
Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Pingree, Mrs. Ramirez, 
Mr. Raskin, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. 
 Sherman, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Soto, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thompson 
of Mississippi, Ms. Titus, Mr. Tonko, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Turner of Texas, 
 Mr. Veasey, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Waters, Mrs. 
 Watson Coleman, Ms. Williams of Georgia, and Ms. Wilson of Florida) 
 introduced the following 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 consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
 jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend titles II and XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate 
 the disability insurance benefits waiting period for individuals with 
 disabilities, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Stop the Wait Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF DISABILITY WAITING PERIOD FOR SOCIAL SECURITY 
 DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS.

    (a) Elimination of Waiting Period for Disability Insurance 
Benefits.--

Section 223 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423) is 
amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (a) --
        (A) in paragraph

    (1) , in the matter following 
 subparagraph
        (E) --
            (i) by striking ``disability insurance 
 benefit
            (i) for each month'' and all that 
 follows through ``, or
            (iii) '' and inserting 
 ``disability insurance benefit''; and
            (ii) by striking ``, but only if'' and all 
 that follows through ``under such disability''; 
 and
        (B) in paragraph

    (2) , by striking ``as though he 
 had attained age 62 in--'' and all that follows through 
 ``such disability insurance benefits,'' and inserting 
 ``as though the individual had attained age 62 in the 
 first month for which the individual becomes entitled 
 to such disability insurance benefits,''; and

    (2) in subsection
            (c) --
        (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 
 ``Definitions of Insured Status and Waiting Period'' 
 and inserting ``Definition of Insured Status'';
        (B) by striking ``For purposes of this section'' 
 and all that follows through ``in any month if--'' and 
 inserting ``For purposes of this section, an individual 
 shall be insured for disability insurance benefits in 
 any month if--'';
            (C) by striking paragraph

    (2) ;
            (D) by redesignating subparagraphs
        (A) and
        (B) as 
 paragraphs

    (1) and

    (2) , respectively (and adjusting the 
 margins accordingly);
        (E) in paragraph

    (2) (as so redesignated)--
            (i) by redesignating clauses
            (i) ,
            (ii) , and
            (iii) as subparagraphs
        (A) ,
        (B) , and
            (C) , 
 respectively; and
            (ii) in subparagraph
            (C) (as so 
 redesignated), by striking ``clause
            (i) '' and 
 inserting ``subparagraph
        (A) ''; and
        (F) in the matter following subparagraph
            (C) (as so 
 redesignated), by striking ``subparagraph
        (B) of this 
 paragraph'' each place it appears and inserting ``this 
 paragraph''.

    (b) Phase-Down of Waiting Period for Disability Insurance 
Benefits.--For purposes of applications for disability insurance 
benefits filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act and before 
January 1, 2030, 

section 223
            (c) (2) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 423
            (c) (2) ) shall be applied by making the following 
substitutions:

    (1) For applications filed in calendar years 2025, 2026, or 
 2027, substitute ``three'' for ``five'' and ``fifteenth'' for 
 ``seventeenth'' each place it appears.

    (2) For applications filed in calendar year 2028, 
 substitute ``two'' for ``five'' and ``fourteenth'' for 
 ``seventeenth'' each place it appears.

    (3) For applications filed in calendar year 2029, 
 substitute ``one'' for ``five'' and ``thirteenth'' for 
 ``seventeenth'' each place it appears.
            (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection

    (a) shall 
take effect on January 1, 2030, and apply with respect to applications 
for disability insurance benefits filed on or after January 1, 2029.
            (d) Conforming Amendments.--Effective January 1, 2030:

    (1) Section 223

    (a)

    (1)
        (A) of the Social Security Act (42 
 U.S.C. 423

    (a)

    (1)
        (A) ) is amended by striking ``
            (c) (1) '' and 
 inserting ``
            (c) ''.

    (2) Section 7
            (d) (3) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 
 (45 U.S.C. 231f
            (d) (3) ) is amended by striking ``223
            (c) (1) '' and 
 inserting ``223
            (c) ''.

SEC. 3. MEDICARE ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS DURING WAITING 
 PERIOD FOR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS.

    (a) Elimination of Waiting Period for Certain Individuals Without 
Minimum Essential Coverage.--

    (1) In general.--

Section 226 the Social Security Act (42 
 U.S.C. 426) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
 subsection:
 ``

    (j)

    (1) For purposes of applying this section in the case of an 
eligible individual described in paragraph

    (2) , the following special 
rules shall apply:
 ``
        (A) Subsection

    (b)

    (2) shall be applied as if 
 there were no requirement for any entitlement to 
 benefits, or status, for a period of 24 months prior to 
 receiving such benefits or status.
 ``
        (B) The entitlement under such subsection shall 
 be available retroactively to the first day of the 
 first month (rather than twenty-fifth month) of 
 entitlement or status.
 ``
            (C) Subsection

    (f) shall not be applied.
 ``

    (2) For purposes of applying this section, an `eligible 
 individual' is an individual, with respect to a month--
 ``
        (A) who has not yet attained the age of 65;
 ``
        (B) who is entitled to benefits described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) of subsection

    (b)

    (2) ; and
 ``
            (C) with respect to whom 

section 5000A

    (e)

    (1)
        (A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 would apply if the 
 reference to `8 percent' in such section were a 
 reference to `8.5 percent'.''.

    (2) Conforming amendments.--

Section 1811 of the Social 
 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395c) is amended--
        (A) at the end of paragraph

    (2) , by striking 
 ``and'';
        (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting 
 ``, and''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following new 
 paragraph:
 ``

    (4) eligible individuals (as described in 

section 226

    (j)

    (2) ).''.

    (b) Special Enrollment Period and Coverage Application for Certain 
Individuals Without Minimum Essential Coverage.--

Section 1837 of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395p) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection:
 ``

    (o)

    (1) In applying this section in the case of an eligible 
individual who is entitled to benefits under part A pursuant to the 
operation of 

section 226

    (j) , the following special rules shall apply:
 ``
        (A) The initial enrollment period under 
 subsection
            (d) shall begin on the first day of the 
 first month in which the individual satisfies the 
 requirement of 

section 1836

    (a)

    (1) .
 ``
        (B) In applying subsection

    (g)

    (1) , the initial 
 enrollment period shall begin on the first day of the 
 first month of entitlement to disability insurance 
 benefits referred to in such subsection.
 ``

    (2) In applying this section in the case of an individual 
 who became entitled to benefits under part A, but had not been 
 entitled to such benefits for a period of 24 calendar months as 
 of the date of enactment of the Stop the Wait Act of 2025, and 
 is entitled to such benefits pursuant to the application of 
 

section 226

    (j) , the initial enrollment period under subsection
            (d) for such individual shall begin on the first day of the 
 first month following the date of enactment of the Stop the 
 Wait Act of 2025 and shall end seven months later.''.
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