[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 208 (Wednesday, December 9, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1125-E1126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




BENEFICIARY ENROLLMENT NOTIFICATION AND ELIGIBILITY SIMPLICATION ACT OF 
                                  2020

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 8, 2020

  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2477, BENES Act 
of 2020, which has been amended to include H.R. 5534, the Comprehensive 
Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act. I 
advanced both bipartisan bills through my Health Subcommittee and I'm 
proud to support them on the Floor today.
  The BENES Act introduced updates the Part B enrollment process for 
the first time in 50 years. It requires Medicare to notify people 
nearing eligibility about their rights and responsibilities, protecting 
beneficiaries from a lifetime of financial penalties for failure to 
enroll promptly.
  While most beneficiaries are still automatically enrolled in Medicare 
Parts A and B at age 65 because they're receiving Social Security 
benefits, a growing number of Americans are not.
  In 2016, only 60 percent of Medicare-eligible 65-year-olds were 
taking Social Security, compared to 92 percent in 2002.
  The federal government provides virtually no notification to people 
who are nearing Medicare eligibility about their responsibilities, 
including if they must actively enroll.
  If you do not enroll in Part B at age 65, then you are required to 
pay a Part B Late Enrollment Penalty that accrues at 10 percent of the 
current Part B premium for every year a person should have been--but 
was not--enrolled in Part B.
  The BENES Act requires the federal government to notify people 
nearing Medicare eligibility about their rights and responsibilities.
  The BENES Act also allows coverage to begin more quickly post-
enrollment, with Medicare coverage beginning on the first of the month 
or the first of the following month when a person enrolls.
  The BENES Act has been championed by the Medicare Rights Center and 
over 70 other organizations dedicated to helping Medicare 
beneficiaries. I'm proud that the House is finally taking this much 
needed vote and I look forward to this important bill being passed by 
the Senate and signed into law.
  As part of this bill, the House will also pass the Comprehensive 
Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act, 
championed by Representatives Kind and Burgess for many years. I'm 
proud to be an original sponsor of this commonsense policy that will 
save money and, more importantly, lives.
  Today, while Medicare covers a lifetime of dialysis, but kidney 
transplant recipients currently lose their Medicare coverage 36 months 
after transplant. Without Medicare coverage for needed 
immunosuppressive drugs, transplant patients risk losing their new 
kidney. This legislation closes that gap by continuing coverage for 
kidney transplant recipients which a nonpartisan HHS analysis found 
would save 375 kidney transplants each year.
  Like the BENES Act, advocates have been fighting for this 
immunosuppressive coverage

[[Page E1126]]

for years. I thank the members of the Honor the Gift coalition for 
their dedication to helping kidney transplant recipients stay healthy 
and well, and I urge my colleagues to support these commonsense bills 
to improve the Medicare program for seniors and kidney patients.

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