Social Security gets long-term care insurance—but only for workers with 6 quarters of coverage.

What it does

This bill creates a new federal long-term care insurance program within Social Security, providing monthly cash benefits to seniors age 62+ who become seriously disabled and remain so for at least one year. The benefit amount is tied to the median cost of 6 hours of daily paid personal care, scaled by the worker's lifetime earnings record (up to 40 quarters of coverage). The program is funded by initial appropriations ($12M annually for 2026–2028, plus $50M for public education) and aims to help middle-class seniors avoid impoverishment by covering extended disability costs before they exhaust savings and become Medicaid-eligible.

Why we flagged it

The bill creates a new federal insurance program within Social Security's framework, funded by appropriations and managed as a trust fund. It is a public social insurance mechanism, not a private market intervention or tax provision. The operative mechanism is a new entitlement, not a subsidy, carve-out, or deregulation.

What the text implies

• The benefit is capped at 6 hours/day equivalent and requires 12+ months of continuous disability before payment begins, leaving early-stage care costs (often the most expensive period) to personal responsibility or family care—this is intentional policy but may not be obvious from the title.
• Eligibility requires 6 quarters of coverage during the base period (2026 onward), meaning workers with gaps or late-career entry may not qualify despite decades of contributions; the bill does not grandfather pre-2026 work history.
• The benefit amount is indexed to long-term care sector wages, not general inflation, which may lag or exceed CPI depending on labor market dynamics in that sector.
• Annual recertification and country-of-residence reporting requirements create ongoing compliance burden; failure to report triggers benefit termination after 5 consecutive years abroad.
• The bill appropriates only $12M/year for benefits during 2026–2028 (startup phase), but does not specify ongoing funding mechanism post-2028; future Congresses must appropriate or the program may face shortfalls.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill directly addresses a documented crisis: most middle-class seniors cannot afford extended long-term care and are forced into impoverishment and Medicaid dependency. By providing a federal cash benefit tied to actual care costs, the program enables seniors to remain in their communities, hire care workers, and preserve family assets—reducing both individual hardship and Medicaid's fiscal burden. The benefit is modest (6 hours/day equivalent) and requires substantial prior work history, bu

Who stands to gain

• seniors and disabled older adults (primary beneficiaries of cash payments)
• home care workers and personal care attendants (increased demand for services)
• families of disabled seniors (reduced need to provide unpaid care or financial support)

Named in the bill

Social Security Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, Board of Trustees (Social Security), Comptroller General (GAO), Administration on Community Living, Aging and Disability Resource Centers, Area Agencies on Aging, Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Trust Fund, Internal Revenue Code Section 7702B (chronically ill definition)

Where it stands

5 cosponsors: 3 Republicans, 2 Democrats.

• Mar 11, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Mar 11, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

6 lobbying clients named this bill on 9 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,915,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 13 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 82% of bills with at least one filing.

Thomas Suozzi, the sponsor, reported $1,663,155 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• New York Life Insurance Company — $1,110,000 on 2 filings
• Pacific Life Insurance Company — $480,000 on 1 filing
• Alliance for Retired Americans — $175,000 on 2 filings
• Genworth North America Corporation — $100,000 on 2 filings
• Arc of the United States — $30,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.