Advocacy Groups Call for End of Medicare Waiting Period

WASHINGTON–A group of more than 75 health advocacy
organizations is urging the next Congress to end the 24-month wait
for Medicare coverage faced by people with disabilities.

At a Nov. 12 press conference at the Capitol, the Coalition to
End the Two-Year Wait for Medicare–including the Alzheimer’s
Association, the American Association of People with Disabilities,
the Amputee Coalition of America, the Arthritis Foundation, the
COPD Foundation, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, United
Cerebral Palsy and others–launched its campaign.

“This coalition will give voice to people with
disabilities and their families who struggle to pay medical bills
or who go without critically needed care as they wait for Medicare
coverage to begin,” said Robert M. Hayes, president of the
Medicare Rights Center, in a statement. “This senseless delay
in health coverage for the most vulnerable among us must
end.”

In 1972, Congress extended Medicare coverage to those determined
by the Social Security Administration to have a disability that
prevents them from working. But legislators also mandated a
two-year waiting period, starting from the date of the eligibility
for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, before Medicare
coverage begins.

In a letter addressed to Democratic and Republican leaders of
the Senate Finance Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee
and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the coalition
called for health coverage for people with disabilities to be at
the forefront of efforts to cover the uninsured.

“This arcane rule continues to exist despite the potential harm
it causes to the health of the 1.5 million people waiting for
coverage,” the coalition letter reads. “Nearly 40
percent of these individuals are without health insurance coverage
at some point during their wait for Medicare; 24 percent have no
health insurance during this entire period. Many cannot afford to
pay COBRA premiums to maintain coverage from their former employer,
and private coverage on the individual market is unavailable or too
expensive for this high-cost population …

“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 continues. “Many
forgo medical treatment and/or stoop taking medications,
compromising their already fragile health and resulting ultimately
in conditions more costly to treat when Medicare coverage finally
begins.”

Legislation to phase out the waiting period over 10 years has
been introduced in both the Senate and the House. The Senate bill
(S. 2102) is sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and
cosponsored by 23 senators, including President-elect Barack Obama.
The House bill (H.R. 154) is sponsored by Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas,
and has 103 cosponsors. The two legislators are trying to get their
plan incorporated into a health reform package expected by
Obama.

“After receiving a life-altering diagnosis, people with
disabilities, such as the half million people with young-onset
Alzheimer’s disease, must then wait two full years for
Medicare coverage–at a time when they need coverage the
most,” said Brenda Sulick, director of federal health policy
for the Alzheimer’s Association. “Those with profound
disabilities are often overlooked. With so many lives at stake, now
is the time to act.”