BENEFITS AT AGE 72 FOR CERTAIN UNINSURED INDIVIDUALS.

SEC. 302. BENEFITS AT AGE 72 FOR CERTAIN UNINSURED INDIVIDUALS. (a) Monthly Benefits.—Title II of the Social Security Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section: “benefits at age 72 for certain uninsured individuals “Eligibility “Sec. 228. (a) Every individual who— “(1) has attained the age of 72, “(2) (A) attained such age before 1968, or (B) has not less than 3 quarters of coverage, whenever acquired, for each calendar year elapsing after 1966 and before the year in which he attained such age, 80 Stat. 68 “(3) is a resident of the United States (as defined in subsection (e)), and is (A) a citizen of the United States or (B) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence who has resided in the United States (as denned in section 210(i)) continuously during the 5 years immediately preceding the month in which he files application under this section, and “(4) has filed application for benefits under this section, shall (subject to the limitations in this section) be entitled to a benefit under this section for each month beginning with the first month after September 1966 in which he becomes so entitled to such benefits and ending with the month preceding the month in which he dies. No application under this section which is filed by an individual more than 3 months before the first month in which he meets the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) shall be accepted as an application for purposes of this section. “Benefit Amount “(b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the benefit amount to which an individual is entitled under this section for any month shall be $35. “(2) If both husband and wife are entitled (or upon application would be entitled) to benefits under this section for any month, the amount of the husband’s benefit for such month shall be $35 and the amount of the wife’s benefit for such month shall be $17.50. “Reduction for Governmental Pension System Benefits “(c) (1) The benefit amount of any individual under this section for any month shall be reduced (but not below zero) by the amount of any periodic benefit under a governmental pension system for which lie is eligible for such month. “(2) In the case of a husband and wife only one of whom is entitled to benefits under this section for any month, the benefit amount, after any reduction under paragraph (1), shall be further reduced (but not below zero) by the excess (if any) of (A) the total amount of any periodic benefits under governmental pension systems for which the spouse who is not entitled to benefits under this section is eligible for such month, over (B) $17.50. “(3) In the case of a husband and wife both of whom are entitled to benefits under this section for any month— “(A) the benefit amount of the wife, after any reduction under paragraph (1), shall be further reduced (but not below zero) by the excess (if any) of (i) the total amount of any periodic benefits under governmental pension systems for which the husband is eligible for such month, over (ii) $35, and “(B) the benefit amount of the husband, after any reduction under paragraph (1), shall be further reduced (but not below zero) by the excess (if any) of (i) the total amount of any periodic benefits under governmental pension systems for which the wife is eligible for such month, over (ii) $17.50. “(4) For purposes of this subsection, in determining whether an individual is eligible for periodic benefits under a governmental pension system— “(A) such individual shall be deemed to have filed application for such benefits, “(B) to the extent that entitlement depends on an application by such individual’s spouse, such spouse shall be deemed to have filed application, and 80 Stat. 69 “(C) to the extent that entitlement depends on such individual or his spouse having retired, such individual and his spouse shall be deemed to have retired before the month for which the determination of eligibility is being made. “(5) For purposes of this subsection, if any periodic benefit is payable on any basis other than a calendar month, the Secretary shall allocate the amount of such benefit to the appropriate calendar months. “(6) If, under the foregoing provisions of this section, the amount payable for any month would be less than $1, such amount shall be reduced to zero. In the case of a husband and wife both of whom are entitled to benefits under this section for the month, the preceding sentence shall be applied with respect to the aggregate amount so payable for such month. “(7) If any benefit amount computed under the foregoing provisions of this section is not a multiple of $0.10, it shall be raised to the next higher multiple of $0.10. “(8) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, benefit payments under this section to an individual (or aggregate benefit payments under this section in the case of a husband and wife) of less than $5 may be accumulated until they equal or exceed $5. “Suspension for Months in Which Cash Payments Are Made Under Public Assistance “(d) The benefit to which any individual is entitled under this section for any month shall not be paid for such month if— “(1) such individual receives aid or assistance in the form of money payments in such month under a State plan approved under title I, IV, X, XIV, or XVI, or “(2) such individual’s husband or wife receives such aid or assistance in such month, and under the State plan the needs of such individual were taken into account in determining eligibility for (or amount of) such aid or assistance, unless the State agency administering or supervising the administration of such plan notifies the Secretary, at such time and in such manner as may be prescribed in accordance with regulations of the Secretary, that such payments to such individual (or such individual’s husband or wife) under such plan are being terminated with the payment or payments made in such month. “Suspension Where Individual Is Residing Outside the United States “(e) The benefit, to which any individual is entitled under this section for any month shall not be paid if, during such month, such individual is not a resident of the United States. For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘United States’ means the 50 States and the District of Columbia. “Treatment as Monthly Insurance Benefits “(f) For purposes of subsections (t) and (u) of section 202, and of section 1840, a monthly benefit under this section shall be treated as a monthly insurance benefit payable under section 202. “Annual Reimbursement of Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund “(g) There are authorized to be. appropriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1969, and for each fiscal year thereafter, such sums as the80 Stat. 70 Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare deems necessary on account of— “(1) payments made under this section during the second preceding fiscal year and all fiscal years prior thereto to individuals who, as of the beginning of the calendar year in which falls the month for which payment was made, had less than 3 quarters of coverage, “(2) the additional administrative expenses resulting from the payments described in paragraph (1), and “(3) any loss in interest to such Trust Fund resulting from such payments and expenses, in order to place such Trust Fund in the same position at the end of such fiscal year as it would have been in if such payments had not been made. “Definitions “(h) For purposes of this section— “(1) The term ‘quarter of coverage’ includes a quarter of coverage as defined in section 5(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937. “(2) The term ‘governmental pension system’ means the insurance system established by this title or any other system or fund established by the United States, a State, any political subdivision of a State, or any wholly owned instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing which provides for payment of (A) pensions, (B) retirement or retired pay, or (C) annuities or similar amounts payable on account of personal services performed by any individual (not including any payment under any workmen’s compensation law or any payment by the Veterans’ Administration as compensation for service-connected disability or death). “(3) The term ‘periodic benefit’ includes a benefit payable in a lump sum if it is a commutation of, or a substitute for, periodic payments. “(4) The determination of whether an individual is a husband or wife for any month shall be made under subsection (h) of section 216 without regard to subsections (b) and (f) of section 216.” (b) Certain Applications Under 1965 Amendments.— For purposes of paragraph (4) of section 228(a) of the Social Security Act (added by subsection (a) of this section), an application filed under section 103 of the Social Security Amendments of 1965 before July 1966 shall be regarded as an application under such section 228 and shall, for purposes of such paragraph and of the lust sentence of such section 228(a), be deemed to have been filed in July 1966, unless the person by whom or on whose behalf such application was filed notifies the Secretary that he does not want such application so regarded.