Stop the Wait Act of 2025
Key claim: The Stop the Wait Act of 2025 would phase out the five-month SSDI waiting period by 2030 and eliminate the 24-month Medicare waiting period for disabled individuals who cannot afford minimum essential coverage.
Abstract
(HR930 · 119th Congress) Stop the Wait Act of 2025 This bill phases out the initial waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and eliminates the waiting period for certain disabled individuals to become eligible for Medicare. Under current law, individuals generally must wait five months after the onset of disability to begin receiving SSDI benefits. The bill would gradually reduce this waiting period before eliminating it entirely in the year 2030. Further, the bill would eliminate the 24-month waiting period for certain disabled workers and other individuals to become eligible for Medicare. Under current law, individuals under the age of 65 may generally enroll in Medicare after they have been eligible for SSDI or Social Security child’s, widow’s, or widower’s benefits by reason of disability for 24 months. The bill would eliminate this waiting period for individuals for whom the annual cost of certain medical insurance would exceed a specified percentage of their household income (i.e., those who cannot afford minimum essential coverage). Medicare eligibility for these individuals must be available retroactively to the first month that an individual qualified for SSDI or Social Security child’s, widow’s, or widower’s benefits by reason of disability. Latest action (2025-02-04): Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Why this matters
SSDI’s five-month cash-benefit waiting period and Medicare’s 24-month coverage gap are longstanding features of the U.S. disability safety net that shift risk onto workers, employer short-term disability plans, and Medicaid during the interim. Eliminating these waits would materially change the timing of income and health-coverage transitions for disabled workers and alter the role of employer-sponsored bridge benefits. As an introduced bill, its practical effect depends on advancement through Congress.