BENES Act of 2019
Latest action · May 2, 2019 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 2, 2019
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification Act of 2019 or the BENES Act of 2019
This bill makes a series of changes to, and requires additional notifications regarding, the Medicare enrollment process.
Specifically, the bill changes the Medicare general enrollment period to October 15-December 31, and requires coverage to begin on the first day of the month following enrollment. (Currently, the general enrollment period is January 1-March 31, and coverage begins July 1.) The bill also generally requires coverage to begin on the first day of the month following enrollment for individuals who enroll in the latter months of their initial enrollment period. (Currently, the longer an individual waits to enroll, the more delayed the effective date of coverage.)
The bill also requires Social Security account statements for individuals ages 60 to 64 to include information about Medicare eligibility, late enrollment penalties, coordination of benefits, and special enrollment populations (e.g., veterans).
Cosponsors 11
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 2, 2019 to Mar 2, 2020, with 5 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-DE | Christopher A. Coons | Original | May 2, 2019 |
| D-MI | Debbie Stabenow | Original | May 2, 2019 |
| R-OH | Rob Portman | Original | May 2, 2019 |
| R-ME | Susan M. Collins | Original | May 2, 2019 |
| R-IN | Todd Young | Original | May 2, 2019 |
| D-AZ | Kyrsten Sinema | Oct 17, 2019 | |
| R-FL | Rick Scott | Oct 17, 2019 | |
| R-AZ | Martha McSally | Nov 14, 2019 | |
| D-OH | Sherrod Brown | Nov 14, 2019 | |
| R-KS | Pat Roberts | Mar 2, 2020 | |
| D-MN | Tina Smith | Mar 2, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 2, 2019Introduced in Senate
- May 2, 2019Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 2477 | Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification Act of 2020 | Identical bill | Dec 9, 2020 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 2, 2019Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.
