HOSPITAL INSURANCE BENEFITS FOR UNINSURED ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS NOT OTHERWISE ELIGIBLE

Sec. 1818. [42 U.S.C. 1395i–2] (a) Every individual who—

(1) has attained the age of 65,

(2) is enrolled under part B of this title,

(3) is a resident of the United States, and is either (A) a citizen or (B) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence who has resided in the United States continuously during the 5 years immediately preceding the month in which he applies for enrollment under this section, and

(4) is not otherwise entitled to benefits under this part,

shall be eligible to enroll in the insurance program established by this part. Except as otherwise provided, any reference to an individual entitled to benefits under this part includes an individual entitled to benefits under this part pursuant to an enrollment under this section or section 1818A.

(b) An individual may enroll under this section only in such manner and form as may be prescribed in regulations, and only during an enrollment period prescribed in or under this section.

(c) The provisions of section 1837 (except subsection (f) thereof), section 1838, subsection (b) of section 1839, and subsections (f) and (h) of section 1840 shall apply to persons authorized to enroll under this section except that—

(1) individuals who meet the conditions of subsection (a)(1), (3), and (4) on or before the last day of the seventh month after the month in which this section is enacted^[56] may enroll under this part and (if not already so enrolled) may also enroll under part B during an initial general enrollment period which shall begin on the first day of the second month which begins after the date on which this section is enacted and shall end on the last day of the tenth month after the month in which this section is enacted;

(2) in the case of an individual who first meets the conditions of eligibility under this section on or after the first day of the eighth month after the month in which this section is enacted, the initial enrollment period shall begin on the first day of the third month before the month in which he first becomes eligible and shall end 7 months later;

(3) in the case of an individual who enrolls pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, entitlement to benefits shall begin on—

(A) the first day of the second month after the month in which he enrolls,

(B) July 1, 1973, or

(C) the first day of the first month in which he meets the requirements of subsection (a),

whichever is the latest;

(4) an individual’s entitlement under this section shall terminate with the month before the first month in which he becomes eligible for hospital insurance benefits under section 226 of this Act or section 103 of the Social Security Amendments of 1965^[57]; and upon such termination, such individual shall be deemed, solely for purposes of hospital insurance entitlement, to have filed in such first month the application required to establish such entitlement;

(5) termination of coverage for supplementary medical insurance shall result in simultaneous termination of hospital insurance benefits for uninsured individuals who are not otherwise entitled to benefits under this Act;

(6) any percent increase effected under section 1839(b) in an individual’s monthly premium may not exceed 10 percent and shall only apply to premiums paid during a period equal to twice the number of months in the full 12–month periods described in that section and shall be subject to reduction in accordance with subsection (d)(6);

(7) an individual who meets the conditions of subsection (a) may enroll under this part during a special enrollment period that includes any month during any part of which the individual is enrolled under section 1876 with an eligible organization and ending with the last day of the 8th consecutive month in which the individual is at no time so enrolled;

(8) in the case of an individual who enrolls during a special enrollment period under paragraph (7)—

(A) in any month of the special enrollment period in which the individual is at any time enrolled under section 1876 with an eligible organization or in the first month following such a month, the coverage period shall begin on the first day of the month in which the individual so enrolls (or, at the option of the individual, on the first day of any of the following three months), or

(B) in any other month of the special enrollment period, the coverage period shall begin on the first day of the month following the month in which the individual so enrolls; and

(9) in applying the provisions of section 1839(b), there shall not be taken into account months for which the individual can demonstrate that the individual was enrolled under section 1876 with an eligible organization.

(d)(1) The Secretary shall, during September of each year (beginning with 1988), estimate the monthly actuarial rate for months in the succeeding year. Such actuarial rate shall be one–twelfth of the amount which the Secretary estimates (on an average, per capita basis) is equal to 100 percent of the benefits and administrative costs which will be payable from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for services performed and related administrative costs incurred in the succeeding year with respect to individuals age 65 and over who will be entitled to benefits under this part during that year.

(2) The Secretary shall, during September of each year determine and promulgate the dollar amount which shall be applicable for premiums for months occurring in the following year. Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), the amount of an individual’s monthly premium under this section shall be equal to the monthly actuarial rate determined under paragraph (1) for that following year. Any amount determined under the preceding sentence which is not a multiple of $1 shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $1 (or, if it is a multiple of 50 cents but not a multiple of $1, to the next higher multiple of $1).

(3) Whenever the Secretary promulgates the dollar amount which shall be applicable as the monthly premium under this section, he shall, at the time such promulgation is announced, issue a public statement setting forth the actuarial assumptions and bases employed by him in arriving at the amount of an adequate actuarial rate for individuals 65 and older as provided in paragraph (1).

(4)(A) In the case of an individual described in subparagraph (B), the monthly premium for a month shall be reduced by the applicable reduction percent specified in the following table:

(B) An individual described in this subparagraph with respect to a month is an individual who establishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary that, as of the last day of the previous month, the individual—

(i) had at least 30 quarters of coverage under title II;

(ii) was married (and had been married for the previous 1–year period) to an individual who had at least 30 quarters of coverage under such title;

(iii) had been married to an individual for a period of at least 1 year (at the time of such individual’s death) if at such time the individual had at least 30 quarters of coverage under such title; or

(iv) is divorced from an individual and had been married to the individual for a period of at least 10 years (at the time of the divorce) if at such time the individual had at least 30 quarters of coverage under such title.

(5)(A) The amount of the monthly premium shall be zero in the case of an individual who is a person described in subparagraph (B) for a month, if—

(i) the individual’s premium under this section for the month is not (and will not be) paid for, in whole or in part, by a State (under title XIX or otherwise), a political subdivision of a State, or an agency or instrumentality of one or more States or political subdivisions thereof; and

(ii) in each of 84 months before such month, the individual was enrolled in this part under this section and the payment of the individual’s premium under this section for the month was not paid for, in whole or in part, by a State (under title XIX or otherwise), a political subdivision of a State, or an agency or instrumentality of one or more States or political subdivisions thereof.

(B) A person described in this subparagraph for a month is a person who establishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary that, as of the last day of the previous month—

(i)(I) the person was receiving cash benefits under a qualified State or local government retirement system (as defined in subparagraph (C)) on the basis of the person’s employment in one or more positions covered under any such system, and (II) the person would have at least 40 quarters of coverage under title II if remuneration for medicare qualified government employment (as defined in paragraph (1) of section 210(p), but determined without regard to paragraph (3) of such section) paid to such person were treated as wages paid to such person and credited for purposes of determining quarters of coverage under section 213;

(ii)(I) the person was married (and had been married for the previous 1–year period) to an individual who is described in clause (i), or (II) the person met the requirement of clause (i)(II) and was married (and had been married for the previous 1–year period) to an individual described in clause (i)(I);

(iii) the person had been married to an individual for a period of at least 1 year (at the time of such individual’s death) if (I) the individual was described in clause (i) at the time of the individual’s death, or (II) the person met the requirement of clause (i)(II) and the individual was described in clause (i)(I) at the time of the individual’s death; or

(iv) the person is divorced from an individual and had been married to the individual for a period of at least 10 years (at the time of the divorce) if (I) the individual was described in clause (i) at the time of the divorce, or (II) the person met the requirement of clause (i)(II) and the individual was described in clause (i)(I) at the time of the divorce.

(C) For purposes of subparagraph (B)(i)(I), the term “qualified State or local government retirement system” means a retirement system that—

(i) is established or maintained by a State or political subdivision thereof, or an agency or instrumentality of one or more States or political subdivisions thereof;

(ii) covers positions of some or all employees of such a State, subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; and

(iii) does not adjust cash retirement benefits based on eligibility for a reduction in premium under this paragraph.

(6)(A) In the case where a State, a political subdivision of a State, or an agency or instrumentality of a State or political subdivision thereof determines to pay, for the life of each individual, the monthly premiums due under paragraph (1) on behalf of each of the individuals in a qualified State or local government retiree group who meets the conditions of subsection (a), the amount of any increase otherwise applicable under section 1839(b) (as applied and modified by subsection (c)(6) of this section) with respect to the monthly premium for benefits under this part for an individual who is a member of such group shall be reduced by the total amount of taxes paid under section 3101(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by such individual and under 3111(b) of such Code by the employers of such individual on behalf of such individual with respect to employment (as defined in section 3121(b) of such Code).

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term “qualified State or local government retiree group” means all of the individuals who retire prior to a specified date that is before January 1, 2002, from employment in one or more occupations or other broad classes of employees of—

(i) the State;

(ii) a political subdivision of the State; or

(iii) an agency or instrumentality of the State or political subdivision of the State.

(e) Payment of the monthly premiums on behalf of any individual who meets the conditions of subsection (a) may be made by any public or private agency or organization under a contract or other arrangement entered into between it and the Secretary if the Secretary determines that payment of such premiums under such contract or arrangement is administratively feasible.

(f) Amounts paid to the Secretary for coverage under this section shall be deposited in the Treasury to the credit of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund.

(g)(1) The Secretary shall, at the request of a State made after 1989, enter into a modification of an agreement entered into with the State pursuant to section 1843(a) under which the agreement provides for enrollment in the program established by this part of qualified medicare beneficiaries (as defined in section 1905(p)(1)).

(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the provisions of subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) of section 1843 shall apply to qualified medicare beneficiaries enrolled, pursuant to such agreement, in the program established by this part in the same manner and to the same extent as they apply to qualified medicare beneficiaries enrolled, pursuant to such agreement, in part B.

(B) For purposes of this subsection, section 1843(d)(1) shall be applied by substituting “section 1818” for “section 1839” and “subsection (c)(6) (with reference to subsection (b) of section 1839)” for “subsection (b)”.

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^[56]  October 30, 1972 [P.L. 92-603; 86 Stat. 1374].

^[57]  See Vol. II, P.L. 89-97.