To require the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Commissioner of Social Security to review and simplify the processes, procedures, forms, and communications for family caregivers to assist individuals in establishing eligibility for, enrolling in, and maintaining and utilizing coverage and benefits under the Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Social Security programs respectively, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMrs. Cammack (for herself, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Wittman, …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers Act (ABC Act) requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to review and simplify how family caregivers help their loved ones apply for and use Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Social Security benefits. The bill aims to reduce paperwork, eliminate redundant information requests, improve customer service, and make government processes more accessible for families navigating these complex programs.
Who Benefits and How
Family caregivers benefit most significantly. They will face less paperwork duplication, shorter call wait times, and clearer information when helping elderly parents, disabled relatives, or others apply for benefits. Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Social Security beneficiaries also benefit from simplified enrollment and maintenance processes. Caregiver advocacy organizations benefit from having a stronger voice in improving government processes through required stakeholder consultations. Additionally, translation and interpretation service providers, disability accessibility consultants, and government IT contractors may see increased revenue opportunities as agencies implement new multilingual services, accessible website designs, and improved communication systems.
Who Bears the Burden and How
CMS and SSA bear the primary burden. Both agencies must conduct comprehensive reviews of their processes, consult with caregivers and advocacy groups, implement improvements, and submit detailed reports to Congress within two years. This requires staff time, resources, and potentially significant IT system changes. State Medicaid and CHIP agencies face an ambiguous burden—while they are encouraged (not required) to conduct similar reviews, they will need to coordinate with federal agencies and may face pressure to adopt new practices. The bill does not include dedicated funding for implementation, meaning agencies must absorb these costs within existing budgets.
Key Provisions
- Mandates joint CMS-SSA review to eliminate duplicate information requests and reduce the need for families to complete multiple similar forms across different programs
- Requires agencies to improve customer service by decreasing phone wait times, ensuring timely responses to questions, and expanding access to in-person appointments
- Directs agencies to make websites more accessible for people with disabilities and provide materials in American Sign Language and multiple languages
- Requires congressional reports within 2 years detailing findings, planned improvements, implementation timelines, and estimated costs
- Calls on state Medicaid and CHIP agencies to conduct parallel reviews at the state level
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Requires CMS and SSA to review and simplify processes, forms, and communications to help family caregivers assist individuals with Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Social Security enrollment and benefits
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Administrative streamlining through mandated agency review and reporting, with emphasis on reducing bureaucratic burden for family caregivers"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Family caregivers
- Medicare/Medicaid/CHIP beneficiaries
- Social Security recipients
- State agencies administering programs
Likely Burden Bearers
- CMS (review and implementation costs)
- Social Security Administration (review and implementation costs)
- State Medicaid and CHIP agencies (potential changes to processes)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "covered_agencies"
- → Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Social Security Administration
- "the_commissioner"
- → Commissioner of Social Security
- "covered_officials"
- → Administrator and Commissioner (jointly)
- "the_administrator"
- → Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Programs for old-age and survivors insurance benefits and disability insurance benefits under title II of SSA, and supplemental security income benefits under title XVI of SSA
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology