SOCIAL SECURITY LEGISLATION

H.R. 6581

Sen. Grassley

Rep. Scott

Rep. Ted Deutch

Would improve Social Security benefits and extend the solvency of the Social Security Trust Funds while not increasing taxes for those earning under $400,000.

Rep. Vern Buchanan

Would require the Social Security Administration to resume annual mailing of Social Security statements to all of the estimated 150 million American workers who are eligible to receive them.

Would improve the Windfall Elimination Provision, or WEP, by introducing a new proportional formula for the purpose of calculating the amount of the offset and provide meaningful WEP relief to current retirees.  H.R. 4540 also includes a benefit guarantee so that no current or future retirees can be worse off as a result of the bill.

H.R. 82

Rep. Rodney Davis

Would repeal both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provisions of the Social Security Act which unfairly prevent millions of Americans including teachers, firefighters, and police officers, from receiving the Social Security benefits that they have earned.

Rep. Gwen Moore

Would establish procedures for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to follow when it proposes to close or consolidate any of the agency’s local field offices, including: a temporary moratorium on all office closures; require that SSA’s annual budgets disclose any plans to close offices or reduce services that field offices provide; and make SSA develop a plan to ensure that field offices are receiving sufficient resources to maintain adequate service delivery.

H.B. 3824

Rep. Raul Grijalva

Would strengthen and modernize the Supplemental Security Income program, which is vitally important for the 8.3 million disabled or elderly individuals who depend on it for basic income support.

NCPSSM supports this legislation.

Would require the use of the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly for the purpose of determining cost-of-living adjustments for a broad array of Federal retirement programs, including Social Security.  Using the CPI-E will ensure that benefits for retirees are not diminished by rising costs in the goods and services that seniors disproportionately consume.

MEDICARE LEGISLATION

Protecting America’s Seniors’ Access to Care Act

Would force the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to abandon a proposed rule that would require staffing standard for nursing facilities participating in the Medicare and Medicare programs.

Nursing Home Disclosure Act

Rep. Fitzpatrick

Directs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to require nursing facilities to report information on medical directors.

SAVE Prescription Drugs Act

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick

Would help low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities access the prescription drugs they need by expanding access to Medicare subsidies.

PRICED Act

Would save money for Medicare and lower seniors’ out-of-pocket costs by reducing exclusivity for biological drugs in the United States from twelve years to five. Reducing the period that a brand manufacturer could exclusively market biologics in the United States would bring competition to the marketplace sooner, helping bring down cost for consumers.

Discounted Drugs for Clinical Trials Act

Would grant eligible researchers access to drugs or biologic products for research purposes at a price no higher than the cost to the manufacturer.

Pharmaceutical Research and Transparency Act of 2022

Would require pharmaceutical manufacturers to report their costs related to clinical trials and research and development.

Generic Substitution Non-Interference Act

Would block so-called  “Dispense-As-Written” campaigns where drug manufacturers incentivize health care providers to specify a brand drug on a prescription to block generic substitution at the pharmacy.

Protecting Seniors Through Immunization Act of 2021

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse

The Protecting Seniors Through Immunization Act will expand Medicare to cover all adult vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without any cost-sharing for Part D, providing immediate coverage for shingles and Tdap vaccines. It would also apply to new vaccines as they are approved.

Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act

Rep. Frank Pallone

Would significantly reduce drug costs for seniors by allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug costs directly with manufacturers, penalize noncompliant manufacturers to ensure lower prices, and require companies to rebate to the government price increases above the rate of inflation.

Would help ease the burden for people who unwittingly make Medicare Part B enrollment mistakes by limiting the penalty for late enrollment. It would also allow those with COBRA coverage to avoid the Part B late enrollment penalty.

Would provide coverage for dental services under the Medicare Part B program.

The bill would require Medicare to cover hearing examinations and hearing aids.

Rep. Elijah Cummings

Would permit wholesalers, licensed pharmacists and individuals to import drugs from Canada, and authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services in two years to allow importation from other advanced countries.

HEALTH CARE AND AGING LEGISLATION

HEAR Act of 2024

The “Help Extend Auditory Relief Act” is needed by the millions of Medicare beneficiaries who suffer from hearing loss and need aural rehabilitation services. The policy includes support for Medicare coverage for hearing examinations and diagnoses, fittings and hearing aids.

Reestablish the Permanent Select Committee on Aging

Would amend the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives to require that the Permanent Select Committee on Aging be reestablish.

HCBS Access Act

Rep. Dingell

Rep. Bowman

Would make home and community-based services (HCBS) a mandatory benefit within Medicaid, and to ensure eligible older adults and people with disabilities have the option to choose between home care and institutional care.

BUDGET LEGISLATION

Fiscal Commission 

Would establish a Fiscal Commission that would likely recommend to Congress that legislation be approved to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023

Would raise the debt limit on the conditions that large cuts in spending be made.

(PASSED)

To provide emergency assistance and health care response for individuals, families, and businesses affected by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION

H.R. 6581

Sen. Grassley

Rep. Scott

Would protect older workers from employment discrimination and would treat age discrimination as unjust as other forms of employment discrimination.

H.R. 7

Rep. DeLauro

Would prevent wage discrimination and help women and their families secure the paychecks they have earned by putting an end to pay secrecy, strengthening workers’ ability to challenge discrimination, and bringing equal pay law into line with other civil rights laws. This would strengthen retirement security for women as they generally work for lower wages due to persistent gender wage discrimination, leading to a smaller Social Security benefit.

ALZHEIMER’S LEGISLATION

CORONAVIRUS LEGISLATION

(PASSED)

Rep. Raul Ruiz

Would improve Medicare beneficiary notification of enrollment rules, align enrollment periods, and eliminate coverage gaps for those who miss their initial enrollment period and sign up during the general enrollment period.

H.R. 1391

Rep. Lloyd Doggett

Would provide for transparency of federal investments in pharmaceutical research related to COVID-19 by creating a single database of all federal biomedical investments in COVID-19 vaccines, drugs, therapies, medical devices, or other products.

The ACCESS Act

H.R. 596

Rep. Jan Schakowsky

Would provide an emergency supplemental appropriation of $50 million to the Department of Health and Human Services to assist nursing homes expand their use of telehealth services and establish a grant program to allow nursing home residents to participate in virtual visits.

Would allow seniors to get three-month prescription drug refills under Medicare Part D by spreading up-front copays over the 90-day period.  This will make it more affordable for seniors to get three months of their medications, allowing them to reduce the frequency of pharmacy visits and stay safely at home during the coronavirus crisis.