Immediate Access for the Terminally Ill Act
Current understanding
The Immediate Access for the Terminally Ill Act is an introduced proposal that would let SSDI applicants with qualifying terminal illnesses elect to begin receiving cash benefits one month after disability onset — bypassing the standard five-month SSDI waiting period — in exchange for a permanent 7% reduction in their monthly benefit amount. For affected workers, this creates an actuarially-adjusted early-access option during end-of-life circumstances; for employers and benefit administrators, it may reduce reliance on short-term disability bridging for terminally ill employees. Status: introduced (area has no formal evidence model; evidenceTier: null).
Evidence log
- 2025-12-11 — Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act: cross-connection with metastatic-breast-cancer-access-to-care-act: Both offer targeted alternatives to the general SSDI five-month waiting period — one for metastatic breast cancer, the other for terminally ill beneficiaries opting into expedited payments with a permanent benefit reduction. (novelty: 3)
- 2026-01-15 — Immediate Access for the Terminally Ill Act: cross-connection with expedited-ssdi-terminally-ill: Two competing legislative approaches to SSDI waiting-period relief for terminally ill applicants: one expedites payments without a benefit adjustment, the other trades a 7% monthly reduction for near-immediate access. (novelty: 3)