Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2477, the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification Act, the BENES Act.

Unfortunately, complex and confusing Medicare enrollment rules combined with a lack of notification cause tens of thousands of older adults and people with disabilities to incur lifetime fines, coverage gaps, and other harmful consequences. This is not fair to our seniors. With fewer people automatically enrolled in Medicare and 10,000 baby boomers aging into Medicare each day, more people new to Medicare must actively enroll in the program.

To address this issue, the BENES Act is here for us. It directs the Federal Government to provide advance notice to individuals approaching Medicare eligibility about basic Medicare and Medicare Advantage enrollment rules.

It directs Part B to begin the first of the month following one's enrollment during both the later months of their initial enrollment period and during the general enrollment period, closing coverage gaps.

It also requires HHS to submit a report to Congress on how best to align the annual general enrollment period with the annual enrollment period for private Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans to reduce confusion.

And it enables HHS to create a Part B special enrollment period for exceptional circumstances; a provision currently used in Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D when people are unable to sign up for Medicare due to occurrences, like living in an area impacted by a disaster or emergency.

I thank my colleague, Dr. Ruiz, for his leadership and partnership on this particular bill.

Madam Speaker, all of these bills are so vital to our seniors, very important bills, and I am glad we are passing them in a bipartisan fashion.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues, again, to support this commonsense protective measure for seniors, veterans, and those living with disabilities.

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