Congress Proposes Ending Waiting Periods for Disability and Medicare for Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients
A house committee must act next: committee consideration.
Companion bill: Senate Bill Would End Medicare, Disability Waiting Periods for Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients →No action since March 2025
This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.
Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 549 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 549 (118th) →Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works
This bill amends the Social Security Act to add metastatic breast cancer to the same special category as ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), which already has its waiting periods waived. This is a permanent structural change to how Social Security handles disability claims for this specific diagnosis. It would apply to all new SSDI applications filed after the law takes effect, giving metastatic breast cancer patients the same fast-track treatment that ALS patients currently receive.
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
The Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act would waive the five-month waiting period for SSDI and the 24-month delay for Medicare. Advocates argue patients cannot afford to wait that long for a disease with an average survival of two to four years.
In March, the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act was re-introduced to both the U.S. House and Senate. This legislation would waive the 5-month and 24-month waiting periods for eligible people with stage IV breast cancer to access Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare.
No votes recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act
Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.