Disability Advocates Battle Medicare Waiting Period, Again

WASHINGTON — Advocates working to end the two-year delay
in Medicare coverage for people with severe disabilities are hoping
the third time will be the charm.

On Wednesday, Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, introduced the Ending the Medicare Disability Waiting Period Act
of 2009 (H.R. 1708) in the House with a companion bill (S. 700)
introduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., in the Senate.

The bill had been introduced in Congress’ last session in
November. And two years ago, President Barack Obama, then an
Illinois senator, cosponsored the Ending the Medicare Disability
Waiting Period Act of 2007.

Currently, people deemed disabled by the Social Security
Administration due to incapacitating health problems are not
eligible for Medicare until 24 months after they receive their
first Social Security disability income benefit. The two-year
waiting period, originally established in 1972 when Medicare was
expanded to include people with disabilities, today has two
exceptions: people who are disabled due to amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS) or end-stage renal disease. (For more, see Patient Groups Ask for End to
‘Cruel and Arbitrary’ Medicare Wait, April 16, 2007.)

This time around, the bill is backed by more than 120 advocacy
organizations and provider groups that have formed the Coalition to
End the Two-Year Wait for Medicare. Following introduction of the
bill, the coalition addressed a letter to Green and Bingaman supporting the
legislation.

According to the coalition, an estimated 1.8 million people with
severe disabilities are waiting to become eligible for Medicare
coverage. “The waiting period forces people with severe
disabilities to endure two years during which treatment and care of
their condition are put at risk,” the letter said. “Many forgo
medical treatment and/or stop taking medications, compromising
their already fragile health and resulting ultimately in conditions
that are often more costly to treat when Medicare coverage finally
begins.”

With health reform on the horizon, the coalition wrote, “there
is a unique opportunity to close this unjustifiable gap in health
care coverage for people with disabilities. Nearly 40 percent of
people with disabilities are without health insurance coverage at
some point during their wait for Medicare; 24 percent have no
health insurance during this entire period. We support your
legislation, which will phase out the waiting period for all people
with disabilities over 10 years, while immediately eliminating the
waiting period for people with life-threatening conditions.”

Members of the coalition include, among others, the Alzheimer’s
Association, the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers
Association, the COPD Foundation, Easter Seals, the National
Multiple Sclerosis Society, Paralyzed Veterans of America, the
Spina Bifida Association and United Cerebral Palsy.