Statement from Fred Riccardi, President of the Medicare Rights Center 

Washington, DC — The Medicare Rights Center strongly supports the bipartisan Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) 2.0 Act introduced this week by Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-CA), Dwight Evans (D-PA),  and Brad Schneider (D-IL). 

On our national helpline, we routinely hear from people who thought they were doing everything right—only to find out too late that they missed a Medicare enrollment deadline. The result is often a lifetime of higher premiums, unexpected bills, and even breaks in coverage. No one should face that kind of penalty simply because they didn’t get the right information in time. 

The BENES 2.0 Act is a smart, bipartisan solution to a long-standing problem. It would make sure that people approaching Medicare eligibility get clear, early, and actionable guidance about when and how to sign up. With the US population aging rapidly and more people working later in life, fewer people are also being automatically enrolled in Medicare, making this kind of outreach more important than ever. 

In 2021, nearly 780,000 people were paying a Medicare Part B Late Enrollment Penalty, which permanently increased their premiums by an average of 27%. This bill would help people plan ahead, avoid costly mistakes, and make confident decisions about their health coverage. It builds on the progress of the original BENES Act, modernizing Medicare enrollment and making it fairer for everyone. 

We applaud Representatives Bilirakis, Ruiz, Evans, and Schneider for championing this issue, and we look forward to working with them, the Senate, and a broad coalition of supporters to get this common-sense reform signed into law this year.