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Medigap Portability Act of 1996

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Sep 16, 1996

Medigap Portability Act of 1996 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to Medicare supplemental policies, providing for additional consumer protections, among them: (1) guaranteeing policy issuance (with no preexisting condition exclusions and no discrimination in pricing because of the individual's health, claims experience, or disability) to certain individuals who have had continuous coverage (or no break in coverage longer than 63 days) if the policy in which they wish to enroll has a comparable or less generous benefits package; (2) prohibiting insurers from excluding benefits based on a pre-existing condition during the initial six-month enrollment period after an individual first becomes eligible for Medicare; and (3) extending the six-month initial enrollment period to non-elderly Medicare beneficiaries. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide grants to private, independent, nonprofit consumer organizations and State agencies applying to conduct programs to prepare and make available to Medicare beneficiaries comprehensive and understandable information on enrollment in health plans with a Medicare managed care contract and in Medicare supplemental policies in which they are eligible to enroll. Requires any eligible organization with a Medicare managed care contract or any issuer of a Medicare supplemental policy to conduct a consumer satisfaction survey of the enrollees under such contract or such policy and make the results of such survey available to the Secretary and the State Insurance Commissioner of the State in which the enrollees are so enrolled. Requires each organization which provides a Medicare managed care contract or issues a Medicare supplemental policy to pay to the Secretary its pro rata share of the estimated costs to be incurred in providing the grants. Makes necessary appropriations.

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Who introduced it

Sen. Chafee, John H. [R-RI] · R–RI

Committees

  • Finance Committee
3 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

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  1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

  2. Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10600,10602-10603)

  3. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.

Source last updated: Aug 21, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

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