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Representative Adriano Espaillat Introduces the Earned Benefits Equality and Family Reunification Act
NEW YORK, NY -- Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) issued the following statement on the introduction of his bill, the Earned Benefits Equality and Family Reunification Act, which aims to create a pilot program that would allow Medicare beneficiaries to use their benefits overseas.
“There are currently more than 443,000 Medicare beneficiaries overseas who lack access to the benefits that they have paid into over the course of their professional careers,” said Rep. Espaillat. “Instead, these individuals are faced with either paying premiums out of pocket in national health systems of their current countries of residence or potentially risk their health to travel back to the United States in order to receive these benefits, which they rightfully have earned and are entitled to. I am proud to introduce this legislation to help alleviate the challenges these beneficiaries face as well as lessen stress from the American medical system which estimates a shortage of over 124,000 physicians by 2034. We must act today to preserve and ensure these benefits for individuals who have earned them.”
"Democrats Abroad is incredibly grateful to Congressman Espaillat for his leadership in introducing the Earned Benefits and Family Reunification Act in the House” said Martha McDevitt-Pugh, Chair of Democrats Abroad. “The Bill represents years of collaboration between Democrats Abroad's Medicare Portability Task Force and The Governmental Savings Institute and enables Americans to start to access their earned healthcare benefits wherever they want to retire. It will help reunite families across the world—helping to build a bridge across generations of Americans."
Introduced with co-sponsor Rep. Dina Titus, Chair of the Americans Abroad Caucus, the Earned Benefits Equality and Family Reunification would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to:
* Design a pilot program that allows overseas Americans to use their Medicare benefits in at least 11 pilot countries including Canada, Germany, India, Israel, Korea, the Philippines, Panama, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and at least one African nation;
* Hold public forums seeking input in the design of the demonstration from knowledgeable stakeholders;
* Create a system for reporting waste, fraud, and abuse;
* Conduct yearly and final evaluations of the pilot program to determine the extent to which goals are met.
Click here to read the bill in its entirety.
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Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his fourth term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities and serves as Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the committee during the 118th Congress. He is also a member of the House Budget Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves in a leadership role as the Deputy Chair as well as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). Rep. Espaillat is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/.
Media inquiries: Candace Person at [email protected]
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