[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3400 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3400

    To amend title II of the Social Security Act to permit disabled 
 individuals to elect to receive disability insurance benefits during 
    the disability insurance benefit waiting period, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 5, 2023

  Ms. Stabenow (for herself and Ms. Collins) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend title II of the Social Security Act to permit disabled 
 individuals to elect to receive disability insurance benefits during 
    the disability insurance benefit waiting period, 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 ``We Can't Wait Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. ELECTION TO RECEIVE.

    (a) In General.--Section 223(a) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 423) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter following subparagraph 
        (E), by striking ``(i)'' and all that follows through ``, (ii) 
        in'' and inserting ``(i) for each month beginning with the 
        first month after the individual's waiting period (as defined 
        in subsection (c)(2)) in which the individual becomes so 
        entitled to such insurance benefits unless the individual 
        elects to receive insurance benefits during such waiting period 
        in accordance with paragraph (3), (ii) in the case of an 
        individual electing to receive insurance benefits during the 
        individual's waiting period pursuant to the preceding clause 
        and in'';
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and section 
        215(b)(2)(A)(ii)'' and inserting ``, section 215(b)(2)(A)(ii), 
        and paragraph (3) of this subsection,''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3)(A) An individual may elect to receive disability 
        insurance benefits during the individual's waiting period 
        pursuant to paragraph (1) if such individual or their appointed 
        representative makes such election in writing (which may 
        include selecting an option on a benefit application form) 
        during--
                    ``(i) in the case of an individual who has applied 
                for but not yet received a decision on their 
                application for such disability insurance benefits 
                before the date on which this paragraph takes effect--
                            ``(I) the 45-day period following such 
                        date, or
                            ``(II) the 10-day period (if such period 
                        ends later than the end of the 45-day period) 
                        following the date on which such individual 
                        receives a decision on such application which 
                        is favorable to such individual,
                    ``(ii) in the case of an individual applying for 
                disability insurance benefits on or after the date on 
                which this paragraph takes effect--
                            ``(I) the date on which such individual 
                        files an application for disability insurance 
                        benefit, or during the 10-day period following 
                        such date,
                            ``(II) the date on which such individual 
                        requests reconsideration of the initial 
                        determination, or during the 10-day period 
                        following such date, or
                            ``(III) the date on which such individual 
                        requests a hearing by an administrative law 
                        judge, or during the 10-day period following 
                        such date,
                    ``(iii) in the case of an individual whose interest 
                the Commissioner of Social Security determines would be 
                served by making payment of the individual's benefit to 
                a representative payee (within the meaning of section 
                205(j)), such individual's election may be revoked or 
                confirmed by such representative payee during the 10 
                day period beginning on the date on which such 
                representative payee is selected, and
                    ``(iv) in the case of an individual who elects to 
                receive disability insurance benefits during such 
                individual's waiting period pursuant to paragraph (1), 
                the individual may revoke such election during the 
                periods described in this subparagraph, except that in 
                no event shall such elections or revocations occur in 
                the first month of an established period of 
                eligibility.
            ``(B) In the case of an individual electing to receive a 
        disability insurance benefit during the individual's waiting 
        period pursuant to paragraph (1), such individual's disability 
        insurance benefit for any month during or after such waiting 
        period shall--
                    ``(i) be equal to the product of--
                            ``(I) the disability insurance benefit 
                        amount determined under paragraph (2) (as 
                        determined before application of this 
                        paragraph), multiplied by
                            ``(II) the percentage determined under 
                        subparagraph (C) for the month during which 
                        such individual first becomes entitled to such 
                        disability insurance benefit,
                    ``(ii) continue unchanged for the entire period of 
                eligibility for such disability insurance benefit, and 
                without the effect of recalculations described under 
                subparagraph (C), and
                    ``(iii) if applicable, be paid as part of a claim 
                of entitlement to past-due benefits under this title 
                and included in the total dollar amount of such past-
                due benefits.
            ``(C) The percentage determined under this subparagraph 
        shall be--
                    ``(i) for any month in the 36-month period 
                beginning with the first month that begins after the 
                date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of 
                this paragraph, 96 percent, and
                    ``(ii) for any subsequent month, the percentage 
                most recently certified by the Commissioner under 
                paragraph (D)(ii).
            ``(D)(i) Not later than the end of the 36-month period 
        described under subparagraph (C)(i), and not later than the end 
        of every 5-year period thereafter, the Chief Actuary of the 
        Social Security Administration shall calculate a percentage 
        such that the fiscal impact over a 75-year period upon the 
        Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund if all individuals who 
        applied pursuant to paragraph (1) to receive disability 
        insurance benefits made an election to receive benefits during 
        their waiting periods is equal to the fiscal impact over such 
        period upon such Trust Fund that would have been made if all 
        individuals who applied had not made such election.
            ``(ii) Not later than the end of the 36-month period 
        described under subparagraph (C)(i), and not later than the end 
        of every 5-year period thereafter, the Commissioner--
                    ``(I) if the percentage calculated by the Chief 
                Actuary in accordance with clause (i) is greater than 
                or equal to 91 percent, shall certify to the Managing 
                Trustee such percentage, or
                    ``(II) if such percentage is less than 91 percent, 
                may elect not to certify such percentage to the 
                Managing Trustee.
            ``(iii) Not later than 2 years after the Commissioner 
        elects not to certify any percentage calculated by the Chief 
        Actuary, the Chief Actuary shall prepare and deliver a report 
        to Congress, including detailed recommendations for 
        administrative or legislative actions to permit individuals 
        eligible for disability insurance benefits to receive 
        disability insurance benefits during the disability insurance 
        benefit waiting period such that the fiscal impact over a 75-
        year period upon the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund is 
        actuarially neutral.
            ``(E) No election made or not made by an individual 
        pursuant to this paragraph shall be construed to have any 
        effect on any benefits payable to any other individual on the 
        basis of such individual's wages and self-employment income.
            ``(F) The Commissioner shall make available to the general 
        public by posting on a website information relating to electing 
        to receive disability insurance benefits during the waiting 
        period, including a calculator which an individual may use to 
        determine the effect of electing to receive disability 
        insurance benefits during the waiting period on the 
        individual's disability insurance benefit.
            ``(G) Each application for entitlement to disability 
        insurance benefits that may subject the individual to the 
        waiting period pursuant to paragraph (1) shall allow for new 
        elections or revocations under this paragraph.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to applications for disability insurance benefits that are made 
or pending on or after the first day of the first month that begins at 
least 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (c) Update to Social Security Disability Forms.--Not later than 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of 
Social Security shall update the application forms for applying for 
disability insurance benefits to include an option for applicants to 
elect to receive disability insurance benefits during their waiting 
period.
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