The aff expands social security enrollment offices to assume Medicare responsibilities.
William M. Rodgers 20, director of the Institute for Economic Equity at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, professor of Public Policy at Rutgers University, the former Chief Economist for the U.S. Department of Labor, March 2020, “Examining Approaches to Expand Medicare Eligibility: Key Design Options and Implications,” Chapter 2, p. 51, https://www.nasi.org/sites/default/files/NASI_Medicare%20Report_Final_Digital.pdf, kav
Structuring a workable enrollment process will be important under any expansion. Managing enrollment is easier if the eligibility age is reduced to 62, when many Americans begin to take Social Security benefits. For more extensive changes, and to assist Americans who delay Social Security receipt until after age 62, Social Security offices may need to be enlisted in enrolling newly eligible Medicare beneficiaries. The addition of an automatic notification process for eligible enrollees not already receiving Social Security benefits would be necessary to maintain near-universal enrollment among the eligible population. Public education efforts might be coordinated with the Social Security Administration’s outreach to notify older persons as they approach the Medicare eligibility age, which would help existing as well as new beneficiaries.