[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5518 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5518

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require individuals 
the choice to opt in to enrollment in employer group waiver plans under 
                          Medicare Advantage.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2023

Mr. Torres of New York (for himself and Ms. Malliotakis) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, 
 and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period 
    to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require individuals 
the choice to opt in to enrollment in employer group waiver plans under 
                          Medicare Advantage.

    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 ``Right to Medicare Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSE.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that seniors 
have the right to choose between traditional Medicare or Medicare 
Advantage.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to ensure that:
            (1) Public and private employers are prohibited from 
        involuntarily forcing seniors to shift from Medicare to 
        Medicare Advantage.
            (2) Employers are required to offer an opt-in option to 
        shift from traditional Medicare to Medicare Advantage.
            (3) If an employee or retiree does not respond to the opt-
        in ask, that shall be viewed as opting out from shifting to 
        Medicare Advantage. This requires the employer to continue 
        paying for their traditional Medicare coverage.

SEC. 3. REQUIRING OPT-IN FOR ENROLLMENT IN EMPLOYER GROUP WAIVER PLANS 
              UNDER MEDICARE ADVANTAGE.

    Section 1857(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-27(i)) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``, subject to paragraph 
        (3),'' after ``the Secretary may'';
            (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, subject to paragraph 
        (3),'' after ``the Secretary may''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Opt-in requirement.--For plan years beginning on or 
        after the date of the enactment of the Right to Medicare Act, 
        with respect to an MA plan described in paragraph (1) or 
        paragraph (2), the Secretary may not waive or modify any 
        requirement that an individual described in either such 
        paragraph affirmatively elect to enroll in such plan before 
        such individual is so enrolled.''.
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