[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1655 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1655

To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to provide for the annual 
mailing of statements of Medicare beneficiary part A contributions and 
  benefits in coordination with the annual mailing of Social Security 
                          account statements.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 5, 2011

Mr. Corker (for himself and Mr. Bennet) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to provide for the annual 
mailing of statements of Medicare beneficiary part A contributions and 
  benefits in coordination with the annual mailing of Social Security 
                          account statements.

    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 ``Medicare Information Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. ANNUAL MEDICARE BENEFICIARY PART A CONTRIBUTIONS AND BENEFITS 
              STATEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Part A of title XI of the Social Security Act is 
amended by inserting after section 1143 (42 U.S.C. 1320b-13) the 
following new section:

    ``annual medicare beneficiary part a contributions and benefits 
                               statements

    ``Sec. 1143A.  (a) Provision.--
            ``(1) In general.--Beginning not later than 2 years after 
        the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, in 
        coordination with the Commissioner of Social Security, shall 
        provide a statement described in subsection (b) (in this 
        section referred to as an `annual Medicare part A information 
        statement') on an annual basis to each eligible individual (as 
        defined in subsection (d)) for whom a current mailing address 
        can be determined through such methods as the Secretary 
        determines to be appropriate.
            ``(2) Coordination in single mailing with social security 
        account statements.--In order to avoid sending separate 
        statements under this section and section 1143 in the case of 
        an individual for whom a social security account statement is 
        provided under section 1143 and a separate annual Medicare part 
        A information statement would otherwise be provided under this 
        section, the Secretary shall coordinate with the Commissioner 
        of Social Security, whether through transmittal of data or 
        otherwise, in a manner so that the annual Medicare part A 
        information statement is included and sent with such social 
        security account statement.
            ``(3) Methodology.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation 
                with the Commissioner of Social Security and the 
                Secretary of the Treasury, shall specify the 
                methodology to be used in estimating lifetime 
                contributions and lifetime benefits with respect to 
                annual Medicare part A information statements. Such 
                methodology for computing the lifespan of an individual 
                shall be the same methodology used for purposes of the 
                social security account statement under section 1143.
                    ``(B) Inclusion of description in statement.--The 
                Secretary shall include a brief description of the key 
                assumptions used in such methodology in the annual 
                Medicare part A information statements.
            ``(4) Summary of medicare part a program.--Each annual 
        Medicare part A information statement shall include a summary 
        of part A of the Medicare program. Such summary shall also 
        include a summary description of benefits and enrollment 
        options under parts B, C, and D of title XVIII, but shall 
        indicate that the information described in subsection (b) does 
        not include information related to contributions and benefits 
        under those parts.
    ``(b) Medicare Part A Information Statement Described.--In addition 
to the information described in paragraphs (3)(B) and (4) of subsection 
(a), each annual Medicare part A information statement for an eligible 
individual shall contain the following:
            ``(1) HI employee contributions.--The total contributions 
        described in section 1143(a)(2)(C) for the individual--
                    ``(A) for the most recent year for which data are 
                available;
                    ``(B) to the extent feasible, for previous periods 
                through the end of such year; and
                    ``(C) as projected for the individual during the 
                individual's lifetime.
        To the extent feasible, of such total contributions the portion 
        that is attributable to employer, employee, and self-employment 
        contributions.
            ``(2) Medicare part a benefits.--In the case of an eligible 
        individual--
                    ``(A) who, for such most recent year, was entitled 
                to benefits under part A of title XVIII, the total 
                value of such benefits provided to the individual under 
                such part as of the end of such year and, to the extent 
                feasible, the total value of such benefits for such 
                individual for previous periods through the end of such 
                year; and
                    ``(B) an estimate of the actuarial value of the 
                expected benefits under such part for the individual 
                during the individual's lifetime, including (but stated 
                separately) any benefits described in subparagraph (A).
            ``(3) Comparison.--An appropriate comparison of such 
        contributions with such benefits.
    ``(c) Records Retention.--The Secretary shall provide for the 
indefinite retention of information that--
            ``(1) is described in subsection (b), including benefits 
        described in subsection (b)(2); and
            ``(2) the Secretary has not discarded as of the date of the 
        enactment of this section.
    ``(d) Eligible Individual Defined.--In this section, the term 
`eligible individual' means an individual--
            ``(1) who has a social security account number;
            ``(2) who has attained age 25 or over; and
            ``(3) who is entitled to benefits under part A of title 
        XVIII or who, as of the end of the most recent year referred to 
        in subsection (b)(1)(A), has had any contributions described in 
        subsection (b)(1) made with respect to the individual during 
        such year or a previous year.''.
    (b) Inclusion of Social Security Account Statement for Those 
Receiving Annual Medicare Part A Information Statement.--Section 
1143(a)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-13(a)(3)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
``Such term includes an individual not described in the previous 
sentence who is an eligible individual (as defined in subsection (d) of 
section 1143A) for whom an annual Medicare part A information statement 
is provided under such section.''.
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