Legislation We Can All Agree On!

When a person becomes entitled to SSDI, he/she currently has a 2 year waiting period before they would be eligible for Medicare benefits. This waiting period often causes desperate financial situations involving medical expenses and in North Dakota, Recipient Liability.

On a number of occasions I've been asked: "Why is there a 2 year waiting period?". I don't like to be stumped by a question. I lose sleep over questions that take a lot of research to answer. So you could imagine my surprise when, this morning, I found out that there is hope in ending this peculiar rule.

Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Susan Collins (R-ME) and Reps. Gene Green (D-TX) and Lee Terry (R-NE) introduced the Ending the Medicare Disability Waiting Period Act of 2009 (S. 700/H.R. 1708). This bill would phase out Medicare's two-year waiting period for individuals with disabilities under age 65 who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.

Please support this bill in any way possible.

Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com