[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 29, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11126-S11127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McConnell:
  S. 2528. A bill to direct the Commissioner of Social Security to 
establish a demonstration project to conduct outreach efforts to 
increase awareness of the availability of Medicare cost-sharing 
assistance to eligible low-income Medicare beneficiaries; to the 
Committee on Finance.


         social security administration outreach demonstration

 Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, since 1988, Congress has 
established three programs to provide low-income elderly and disabled 
individuals with Medicare cost-sharing assistance under Medicaid. 
Despite the availability of these dual-eligible programs, gaps in 
beneficiary knowledge and deficiencies in program administration by 
federal and state agencies have created persistent barriers to 
enrollment by eligible Medicare recipients.
  For several years, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
and the Social Security Administration have sought to educate seniors 
on the availability of Medicare cost-sharing programs through mass 
mailings, informational hotlines, and pamphlet distribution. While 
these initiatives have helped, a study by Families USA found that over 
three million low-income Medicare beneficiaries are not enrolled in any 
cost-sharing program. In Kentucky, the study estimates that the lack of 
information about and participation in Medicare cost-sharing programs 
cost more than 49,000 low-income Kentuckians about $25 million a year. 
In order to overcome these troubling blockades to enrollment, the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services,the Health Care Financing 
Administration and the Social Security Administration are studying 
options to more effectively serve our nation's financially vulnerable 
seniors and disabled.
  A key aspect to improving participation in cost-sharing programs is 
the capacity for federal and state agencies to identify those who 
experience critical income shifts after their initial enrollment in 
Medicare and Social Security. One group at particular risk of reduced 
income in later life is widowed spouses.
  For anyone who has lost a loved one, the experience is overwhelming 
both mentally and emotionally. The loss of a spouse, often after a 
long, intensive illness, leaves many elderly with the difficult task of 
restructuring their lives in order to regain personal and financial 
stability. At this critical time of change, widowed spouses rely on 
their revised Social Security benefit as the foundation for their 
future budget planning. Statistics furnished by the Social Security 
Administration show that 40 percent of nonmarried women, a category 
which includes widows, rely on Social Security for 90 percent of their 
income in comparison to only 18 percent of married couples. In 
addition, nearly one-fourth of nonmarried women rely on Social Security 
as their sole source of income.
  In an effort to focus federal and state agencies on the health and 
welfare needs of low-income, widowed spouses, I am introducing 
legislation for a research demonstration to identify potential dual 
eligibles during the recalculation of Social Security benefits for 
widowed spouses. The Social Security Administration would refer this 
information to the state administrators of Medicare cost-sharing 
programs for their followup.
  Mr. President, I want to take this opportunity to thank Senator Arlen 
Specter for including my request to fund this research effort by the 
Social Security Administration in the committee report to FY 1999 
Labor, Health

[[Page S11127]]

and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill approved by the 
Senate Appropriations Committee in September. As the House and Senate 
work to complete the omnibus appropriations bill for FY 1999, I 
strongly urge my colleagues to include this research endeavor in the 
final measure as part of our commitment to improving the responsiveness 
of federal and state agencies to the health and welfare needs of our 
nation's at-risk seniors.
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