Washington, DC — Today, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce will consider the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (H.R. 2477) in a full Committee markup. Medicare Rights strongly urges the Committee to advance the BENES Act without delay or amendment.

The bipartisan, bicameral BENES Act is critically needed to modernize and simplify the Medicare Part B enrollment process. Currently, far too many people make honest mistakes when trying to understand and navigate this confusing system. The consequences of such missteps are significant—including late enrollment penalties, higher out-of-pocket health care costs, gaps in coverage, and barriers to accessing needed services.

The BENES Act would help prevent these costly errors. As favorably forwarded by the Health Subcommittee on March 11, the bill would fill long-standing gaps in outreach and education, eliminate needless breaks in coverage, and inform future policymaking on enrollment period alignment.

The Medicare Rights Center fully and unequivocally urges the Committee to prioritize the BENES Act as-is for immediate passage.

A letter of support for the BENES Act, signed by 106 stakeholder organizations.

A letter of support for the BENES Act, signed by 10 former CMS/HCFA Administrators.

The BENES Act, as favorably forwarded by the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on March 11, 2020.

Medicare Rights one-pager on the BENES Act.