A bill to amend sections 226 and 226A of the Social Security Act to provide for entitlement to Medicare benefits of any divorced individual who otherwise would be so entitled on the basis of entitlement to wife's, husband's, widow's, or widower's insuranc

4 Pages·1997·0.18 MB·English

by  United States. Congress. House

PROPERTYOF
NOV17 RECTj
'^CFALIBRARY I
105t1shtcSoenssgiroenss H. R. 1956
To amend sections 226 and 226A ofthe Social SecurityAct to provide
forentitlementtoMedicarebenefitsofanydivorcedindividualwhoother-
wisewouldbesoentitledonthebasisofentitlementtowife's,husband's,
widow's, or widower's insurance benefits but for the failure to meet
the 10-yearmarriagerequirement, ifsuchindividualhasbeenmarried
toany2fiilly-insuredindividualsforatotalperiodof10years.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June18,1997
Mr.Sabointroducedthefollowingbill;whichwasreferredtotheCommittee
onWaysandMeans
A
BILL
To amend sections 226 and 226A of the Social Security
Act to provide for entitlement to Medicare benefits of
any divorced individualwho otherwise would be so enti-
tled on the basis of entitlement to wife's, husband's,
widow's, orwidower'sinsurancebenefitsbutforthefail-
ure to meet the 10-year marriage requirement, if such
individual has been married to any 2 fully-insured indi-
vidualsforatotalperiodof10years.
> I BeitenactedhytheSenateandHouseofRepresenta-
2 tivesoftheUnitedStatesofAmericainCongressassembled,
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1 SECTION1.ENTITLEMENTTOMEDICAREBENEFITSOFDI-
2 VORCED INDIVIDUALS ON THE BASIS OF
3 MARRIAGE TOANY2 FULLYINSURED INDI-
4 VIDUALSFORATOTALPERIODOF10YEARS.
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5 (a) In General. Section 226(e)(1) of the Social
6 SecurityAct (42 U.S.C. 426(e)(1))isamendedbyadding
7 attheendthefollowing:
8 "(C)(i)Inthecaseofanindividual
9 "(I)whoisdivorced,
10 "(n)whofailstomeettherequirementsforen-
11 titlementtowife's, husband's,widow's, orwidower's
12 insurance benefits (other than fihng an appUcation
13 therefor) solelyby reason ofthe individual's failure
14 to havebeen married at thetime ofdivorce forthe
15 10-year period requiredunderparagraph (1) or (4)
16 ofsection216(d),and
17 "(HI) whose total period ofmarriage to any 2
18 spouses who were fuUy insured at the time of the
19 terminationoftherespectivemarriagesisatleast10
20 years,
21 suchindividualshallbetreated, solelyforpurposesofde-
22 termining entitlement under this section, as entitled to
23 such wife's, husband's, widow's, or widower's insurance
24 benefits.
25 "(ii)TheCommissionerofSocialSecurityshallmake
26 the determinationofwhetheranindividualmeetsthe re-
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3
1 quirements for treatment under this subparagraph as
2 being-entitled towife's, husband's,widow's, orwidower's
3 insurance benefits upon the filing by such individual of
4 an apphcationfor suchtreatment andshall transmitthe
5 Commissioner's determination to the Secretary. An indi-
6 vidual's treatment as being so entitled shall commence
7 withthemonthfollowingthemonthinwhichtheCommis-
8 sioner's determination that the individual meets such re-
9 quirementsismade.".
10 (b) Entitlement Based on End Stage Renal
11 Disease.—Section 226AofsuchAct (42 U.S.C. 426-1)
12 isamendedbyaddingattheendthefollowing:
13 "(d)(1)Inthecaseofanindividual
14 "(A)whoisdivorced,
15 "(B)whofailstomeettherequirementsforen-
16 titlementtowife's, husband's,widow's, orwidower's
17 insurance benefits (other than filing an apphcation
18 therefor) solelyby reason ofthe individual's failure
19 to have been married atthe time ofdivorce forthe
^
10-year period required underparagraph (1) or (4)
21 ofsection216(d),and
22 "(C) whose total period of marriage to any 2
23 spouses who were fully insured at the time of the
24 terminationofmarriageisatleast10years.
m
•HR1956
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4 3 ams oLfl^3b b
1 suchindividualshallbetreated, solelyforpurposesofde-
2 termining entitlement under this section, as entitled to
3 such wife's, husband's, widow's, or widower's insurance
4 benefits.
5 "(2)TheCommissionerofSocialSecurityshallmake
6 thedetermination ofwhether anindividualmeetsthe re-
7 quirements fortreatment underthis subsection as being
8 entitledtowife's,husband's,widow's, orwidower'sinsur-
9 ancebenefitsuponthefilingbysuchindividualofanap-
10 phcationforsuchtreatment and shalltransmitthe Com-
11 missioner'sdeterminationtotheSecretary.Anindividual's
12 treatment as being so entitled shaU commence with the
13 month followingthe month in which the Commissioner's
14 determinationthattheindividualmeetssuchrequirements
15 ismade.".
16 SEC.2.EFFECTIVEDATE.
.17 The amendments madebythisAct shall applywith
18 respect to determinations made bythe Commissioner of
19 SocialSecurityafterthedateoftheenactmentofthisAct
20 pursuanttosection226(e)(l)(C)(ii) or226A(d)(2) ofthe
21 SocialSecurityAct(addedbythisAct).
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