The 2020 Omnibus budget bill that President Trump just signed into law includes key provisions that improve Medicare. The combined $1.4 trillion appropriations bill and $900 billion Covid relief bill will help millions of older and disabled Americans in a host of ways. On the healthcare front, it will make it easier to get Medicare coverage.
Among other things, the bill speeds up the time it takes to become eligible for Medicare. People who enroll late in Medicare will be able to gain coverage without a lengthy waiting period. For decades now, people who waited to enroll in Medicare were penalized for delaying their enrollment and often had to go without coverage for several months.
The Medicare provisions in the law were provisions in the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (S. 1280/H.R. 2477). Senators Bob Casey and Todd Young and Representatives Ruiz, Bilirakis, Schneider, and Walorski sponsored that bi-partisan legislation.
No longer will people be forced to go without coverage for several months because they delayed enrolling in Medicare. Beginning in 2023, if you sign up for Medicare in the fifth, sixth or seventh month of your initial enrollment period or during the general enrollment period, your Medicare coverage will begin the following month.
In addition, the Medicare general enrollment period will change to align with the Medicare annual open enrollment period. It will begin October 15 and run through December 31.
CMS will also now have greater authority to give people a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for “exceptional circumstances.”
All of these changes improve Medicare. They promote health and economic security for older and disabled Americans.
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