Official Summaries

Stop the Wait Act of 2025

This bill phases out the initial waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and eliminates the waiting period for certain disabled individuals to become eligible for Medicare. 

Under current law, individuals generally must wait five months after the onset of disability to begin receiving SSDI benefits. The bill would gradually reduce this waiting period before eliminating it entirely in the year 2030. 

Further, the bill would eliminate the 24-month waiting period for certain disabled workers and other individuals to become eligible for Medicare. Under current law, individuals under the age of 65 may generally enroll in Medicare after they have been eligible for SSDI or Social Security child’s, widow’s, or widower’s benefits by reason of disability for 24 months. The bill would eliminate this waiting period for individuals for whom the annual cost of certain medical insurance would exceed a specified percentage of their household income (i.e., those who cannot afford minimum essential coverage). Medicare eligibility for these individuals must be available retroactively to the first month that an individual qualified for SSDI or Social Security child’s, widow’s, or widower’s benefits by reason of disability. 

Current Full Text

[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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