Help Waive the SSDI and Medicare Waiting Periods!

Greetings!

As some of us may know, metastatic breast cancer patients who apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) must wait 5 months to receive it, and then wait two years for Medicare coverage. This causes undue financial hardship, especially since the average prognosis for these patients is 3 years (this figure seems to be improving, but it still remains the official statistic). Recently, bills that would remove these waiting periods are being mobilized for introduction in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. You can support these bills by writing to your Congressperson and to your Senators. (It is hoped that, over time, people with other types of metastatic cancers may likewise benefit from the precedent being set by these bills if they pass).

Below are detailed instructions on how to locate your legislators, and the letters to forward to them.

Thank you for your consideration, and hopefully this endeavor will be successful!

To find the name of your Representative in the House, enter your zip code on the upper right corner of this site: https://www.house.gov/ Then press on your Representative's name, which will take you to their website where you can call or email.

To find the names of your Senators, choose your state from the drop-down list on this website: https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact Then press on your Senator's name, which will take you to their website where you can call or email.

Below are sample letters for your Representative and your Senators.

Dear <Congressperson's Name>,

I write today as a constituent and as an advocate for the metastatic cancer community to ask that your office please cosponsor the bipartisan Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act (H.R. 2178).

Currently, metastatic cancer patients who apply for disability and Medicare coverage must wait 5 months to receive Social Security Disability Insurance and another two years for Medicare coverage. Given that the average prognosis for a metastatic breast cancer patient is only three years, this waiting period is untenable.

This common-sense legislation would waive the waiting periods for these patients. To cosponsor H.R. 2178, please reach out to Deena Tauster in Cong. Peter King's office at deena.tauster@mail.house.gov or 5-7896 or Elizabeth Brown in Cong. Kathy Castor's office at elizabeth.brown@mail.house.gov or 5-3376. At the very least, please support this legislation in the House.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

<your name>

Dear <Senator's Name>,

I write today as a constituent and as an advocate for the metastatic cancer community to ask that your office please cosponsor the bipartisan Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act (S. 1374).

Currently, metastatic cancer patients who apply for disability and Medicare coverage must wait 5 months to receive Social Security Disability Insurance and another two years for Medicare coverage.Given that the average prognosis for a metastatic breast cancer patient is only three years, this waiting period is untenable.

This common-sense legislation would waive the waiting periods for these patients. To cosponsor S. 1374, please reach out to Emily Crow in Sen. Martha McSally's office at Emily_Crow@mcsally.senate.gov or 4-2235 or Elizabeth Darnell in Sen. Chris Murphy's office at Elizabeth_Darnall@murphy.senate.gov or 4-4041. At the very least, please support this legislation in the Senate.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

<your name>