HR 160
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 160
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to eliminate the five-month
waiting period in the disability insurance program, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 5, 2011
Mr. SHULER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to eliminate the five-month
waiting period in the disability insurance program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Social Security Fairness for the Terminally
Ill Act of 2011'.
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF TITLE II WAITING PERIOD FOR TERMINALLY ILL INDIVIDUALS.
(a) In General- Section 223(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423(a)(1))
is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: `In the case of
any application for disability insurance benefits filed by an individual who
is determined to be under a disability and who has been certified as terminally
ill by a physician (as defined in section 1861(r)(1)), this paragraph shall
be applied without regard to any waiting period. For the purposes of the preceding
sentence, an individual is considered to be terminally ill if the individual
has a medical prognosis that the individual's life expectancy is 6 months
or less.'.
(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by this section shall take effect with
respect to applications filed after the date of the enactment of this Act.
END
