Older Medicaid beneficiaries who are working and have disabilities no longer would need to retire at 65 to continue receiving benefits, under proposed legislation.
The Supporting And Empowering the Nation to Improve Outcomes That Reaffirm Careers, Activities, and Recreation for the Elderly (SENIOR CARE) Act has been introduced by Senate Committee on Aging Chairman Bob Casey (D-PA) and ranking member Tim Scott (R-SC), along with Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).
The 1999 Ticket To Work program capped workforce participation at age 65 for Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities. The SENIOR CARE Act would remove that age limit.
“The Ticket To Work program’s arbitrary age limit at 65 forces working disabled seniors to make an impossible choice between maintaining their independence and livelihood or their Medicaid coverage,”Portman said.
“We need to ensure that these seniors are supported and not arbitrarily carved out of their livelihoods. I look forward to reintroducing the bipartisan SENIOR CARE Act and removing barriers for millions of Americans,” Scott said.
