We Can’t Wait Act Introduced In Senate

Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have introduced the We Can’t Wait Act “to amend title II of the Social Security Act to permit disabled individuals to elect to receive disability insurance benefits during the disability insurance benefit waiting period….” The bill number is S.3400, and it has been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Senator Stabenow announced this bill in her keynote address at NOSSCR’s May 2023 annual conference. Ending the five-month SSDI exclusion has been the goal of several legislative proposals we support, but We Can’t Wait is NOSSCR’s top priority because it has no net impact on the trust fund and already has strong bipartisan support. Denying SSDI claimants benefits for the first five months is bankrupting the disabled and denying earned insurance benefits to the terminally ill. This bill gives claimants a choice to receive benefits without delay. NOSSCR is part of the We Can’t Wait Coalition, which includes Paralyzed Veterans of America, NAMI, NADR, and the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network.

The bill’s text will be posted here soon. If you want to learn how to support this vital effort, contact NOSSCR at nosscr@nosscr.org.