Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon). Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2477, the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification Act. The notification system created in this bill for individuals approaching the age of eligibility for Social Security will soon provide a notice explaining: First, enrollment; second, eligibility; and coordination of Medicare benefits. And why is that so important in the case of Puerto Rico? Puerto Rico has a participation rate of 70 percent in Medicare Advantage. That will tell you how important it is for us. This will be especially beneficial where Medicare recipients must make the affirmative step of signing up for Medicare Part B, rather than be automatically enrolled upon turning 65, unlike anywhere else in the Nation. This is something that we have been fighting for many years. The lack of adequate notice of this difference has resulted in a substantially higher percentage of Medicare Part B enrollees in Puerto Rico paying lifetime late enrollment penalties of 10 percent of the premium for every year they failed to enroll. Currently, almost 40,000 Medicare beneficiaries who live in Puerto Rico are paying lifetime penalties of $20.3 million a year. These penalties are particularly difficult when you take into account that 43.5 percent of my constituents live in poverty and they are not eligible for SSI or Medicare subsidies.…”