Medicare Informed Choice Act of 2005

Medicare Informed Choice Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) provide for an extended period of open enrollment during all of 2006 without late enrollment penalty; (2) give Medicare beneficiaries the opportunity to make a one-time change in prescription drug plan enrollment at any point in 2006; and (3) provide protection from loss of employment-based retiree health coverage upon enrollment for Medicare prescription drug benefit, including a Medicare Advantage-Prescription Drug benefit, during 2006.

[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1841 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1841

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide extended and 
  additional protection to Medicare beneficiaries who enroll for the 
            Medicare prescription drug benefit during 2006.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 6, 2005

   Mr. Nelson of Florida (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. Harkin) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                          Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide extended and 
  additional protection to Medicare beneficiaries who enroll for the 
            Medicare prescription drug benefit during 2006.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``The Medicare Informed Choice Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. EXTENDED PERIOD OF OPEN ENROLLMENT DURING ALL OF 2006 WITHOUT 
              LATE ENROLLMENT PENALTY.

    Section 1851(e)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-
21(e)(3)(B)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (iii), by striking ``May 15, 2006'' and 
        inserting ``December 31, 2006''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new sentence:
                ``An individual making an election during the period 
                beginning on November 15, 2006, and ending on December 
                15, 2006, shall specify whether the election is to be 
                effective with respect to 2006 or with respect to 2007 
                (or both).''.

SEC. 3. ONE-TIME CHANGE OF PLAN ENROLLMENT FOR MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION 
              DRUG BENEFIT DURING ALL OF 2006.

    (a) Application to MA-PD Plans.--Section 1851(e) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-21(e)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)(B)--
                    (A) in the heading, by striking ``for first 6 
                months'';
                    (B) in clause (i)--
                            (i) by striking ``the first 6 months of 
                        2006'' and inserting ``2006''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``the first 6 months 
                        during 2006'' and inserting ``2006'';
                    (C) in clause (ii), by inserting ``(other than 
                during 2006)'' after ``paragraph (3)''; and
                    (D) in clause (iii), by striking ``2006'' and 
                inserting ``2007''; and
            (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ``2006'' and inserting 
        ``2007'' each place it appears.
    (b) Conforming Amendment to Part D.--Section 1860D-1(b)(1)(B)(iii) 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-101(b)(1)(B)(iii)) is amended by striking 
``subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2)'' and inserting 
``paragraph (2)(C)''.

SEC. 4. PROTECTION FROM LOSS OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED RETIREE HEALTH 
              COVERAGE UPON ENROLLMENT FOR MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG 
              BENEFIT DURING 2006.

    Section 1860D-22(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 1395w-132(a)(2)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(D) Protection from loss of employment-based 
                coverage.--The sponsor of the plan may not 
                involuntarily discontinue coverage of an individual 
                under a group health plan before January 1, 2007, based 
                upon the individual's decision to enroll in a 
                prescription drug plan or an MA-PD plan under this 
                part.''.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect as if included in 
the enactment of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and 
Modernization Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-173).
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