Equitable Relief for Missing Medicare Enrollment Periods

An important announcement from Jeffrey Buckner, Associate Commissioner, Office of Strategic and Digital Communications, Social Security Administration:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is providing equitable relief to individuals who could not submit premium-Part A or Part B enrollment or disenrollment requests timely due to challenges contacting us by phone. This relief applies to the 2022 General Enrollment Period, Initial Enrollment Period, and Special Enrollment Period.

If your clients were unable to enroll or disenroll in Medicare because they could not reach us by phone after January 1, 2022, they will be granted additional time, through December 30, 2022.

This is an arcane area of law but still very important because if you are eligible but fail to enroll in premium-Part A or Part B in a timely way, you may be facing lifetime penalties. This directly relates to the phone problems we mentioned in yesterday’s post.

SSA is Chronically Underfunded

In a recent op-ed for The Hill, Max Richtman, president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, noted the chronic underfunding of the Social Security Administration (SSA). This is not news for those of us who advocate on behalf of people with disabilities. But the public needs to know that the second most popular federal agency (behind the National Park Service) needs more money to provide worldclass service.

SSA is funded "mainly from the Social Security trust fund, which Americans contribute to during their working years in exchange for retirement and disability benefits.  Even though SSA is not funded through general revenues like most other agencies, its budget is still subject to the congressional appropriations process.  In other words, workers have effectively paid for SSA’s operating expenses, but Congress limits the amount of money available to the agency every fiscal year."

According to Richtman, between 2010 and 2021, SSA’s operating budget fell by 13 percent in inflation-adjusted terms. During the same period, the number of beneficiaries grew by more than 22 percent.  Budget cuts led to workforce reductions which led to shorter hours at some offices and long hold times and repeated busy signals when people attempted to call SSA. (It is still often impossible to speak with a real human being when you call SSA.)

Despite all this, SSA is one of the most cost-effective federal agencies. It spends about 1 percent of total revenue on operations.

"After years of suffering through endless frustrations and sometimes fatal delays, senior and people with disabilities deserve  a fully-funded and functional Social Security Administration."

Biden Order Unifies Agency Response to Long Covid

According to this article on Bloomberglaw.com, President Biden recently issued a memorandum directing Xavier Becerra, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to develop an interagency “National Research Action Plan” on long Covid. The memorandum states that the Administration intends to “harness the full potential of the Federal Government, in coordination with public- and private-sector partners, to mount a full and effective response” to the devastating effects of long Covid. At a White House briefing, Secretary Becerra said: “We see you, we’re focused on you, and we are committed to advancing our nation’s capacity to understand and treat your conditions.”

The Bloomberg article also notes that the President “is directing the Social Security Administration to support an inclusive disability policy for long Covid patients and looking into ways to increase access to long Covid care through Medicare, Medicaid, insurance marketplace coverage, and other options.”

How To Create a My Social Security Account

If you have access to the internet, creating a “my Social Security” account gives you the ability to do many things without calling or visiting your local Social Security office.

We encourage our clients to setup these accounts if they don’t already have one. To create an account you must:

  • Be 18 years old

  • Have a valid email address

  • Have a Social Security number

  • Have a U.S. mailing address

With an account, you can do many things, including:

  • Check the status of your disability application

  • Check your hearing date and time, once it is scheduled

  • Get proof that you do or do not receive benefits

  • Get your Social Security statement

  • Get retirement benefit estimates

  • Request a replacement Social Security card

  • Set up or change a direct deposit account

  • Change your address and/or phone number

Creating an account is easy. Go to this page on the Social Security website and click “Create an Account” then follow the prompts. It’s simple, useful, and secure.