Urging Support for Sanchez-Young Social Security Disability Insurance for Terminally Ill Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, imagine that your loved one was diagnosed with terminal leukemia on January 1. They will undergo chemotherapy, need daily medical care and attention, and be unable to work.

Without any income, they apply for Social Security disability insurance benefits and are quickly approved. However, due to an archaic, bureaucratic law, your loved one will have to wait 5 months before receiving any benefits. If you were diagnosed with a terminal illness on the first week of the new year, you wouldn't receive disability benefits until this week, the 21st week of the year.

Mr. Speaker, I wish this was just a hypothetical example, but this happened to an Albuquerque resident and my friend, Jeremy Sanchez, who had to wait months before receiving the benefits that he earned, after being diagnosed with leukemia.

That is why I, along with my colleague Congressman Israel, am introducing the Sanchez-Young Social Security Disability Insurance for the Terminally Ill Act, which would repeal the 5-month waiting period for the terminally ill and ensure that SSDI protects the most vulnerable recipients when they need it most.

I urge my colleagues to support this sensible bill.

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