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.”