Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2543 To amend the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012, including making changes to the Do Not Pay Initiative, for improved detection, prevention, and recovery of improper payments to deceased individuals, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 7, 2019 Mrs. BUSTOS (for herself, Mr. GIANFORTE, Mr. COOPER, Mr. MEADOWS, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. GALLAGHER, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. CISNEROS, and Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addi- tion to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012, including making changes to the Do Not Pay Initiative, for improved detection, prevention, and recovery of improper payments to de- ceased individuals, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Improper 4 Payments to Deceased People Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2543.IH H2543 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2543 IH SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH INFORMATION FUR- 1 NISHED TO OR MAINTAINED BY THE SOCIAL 2 SECURITY ADMINISTRATION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(r) of the Social 5 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended— 6 (A) in paragraph (2)— 7 (i) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘shall’’; and 9 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, and to ensure the 10 completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of,’’ 11 after ‘‘transmitting’’; 12 (B) by striking paragraphs (3), (4), and 13 (5) and inserting the following: 14 ‘‘(3)(A) In the case of individuals with respect to 15 whom federally funded benefits are provided by (or 16 through) a Federal or State agency, the Commissioner of 17 Social Security shall, to the extent feasible, provide such 18 information through a cooperative arrangement with such 19 agency for ensuring proper payment of those benefits with 20 respect to such individuals if— 21 ‘‘(i) under such arrangement the agency agrees 22 to such safeguards as the Commissioner determines 23 are necessary or appropriate to protect the informa- 24 tion from unauthorized use or disclosure; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2543.IH H2543 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2543 IH ‘‘(ii) under such arrangement the agency pro- 1 vides reimbursement to the Commissioner of Social 2 Security for the reasonable cost of carrying out such 3 arrangement, including the reasonable costs associ- 4 ated with the collection and maintenance of informa- 5 tion regarding deceased individuals furnished to the 6 Commissioner pursuant to paragraph (1); and 7 ‘‘(iii) such arrangement does not conflict with 8 the duties of the Commissioner of Social Security 9 under paragraph (1). 10 ‘‘(B) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to 11 the extent feasible, provide for the use of information re- 12 garding all deceased individuals furnished to or main- 13 tained by the Commissioner under this subsection, 14 through a cooperative arrangement in order for a Federal 15 agency to carry out any of the following purposes, if the 16 requirements of clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph 17 (A) are met: 18 ‘‘(i) Under such arrangement, the agency oper- 19 ating the Do Not Pay working system established 20 under section 5 of the Improper Payments Elimi- 21 nation and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 may 22 compare death information disclosed by the Commis- 23 sioner with personally identifiable information re- 24 viewed through the working system, and may redis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2543.IH H2543 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2543 IH close such comparison of information, as appro- 1 priate, to any Federal or State agency authorized to 2 use the working system. 3 ‘‘(ii) The tax administration duties of the agen- 4 cy. 5 ‘‘(iii) Oversight activities of the Inspector Gen- 6 eral of an agency that is provided information re- 7 garding all deceased individuals pursuant to this 8 subsection. 9 ‘‘(iv) Civil or criminal enforcement activities 10 that are authorized by law. 11 ‘‘(C) With respect to the reimbursement to the Com- 12 missioner of Social Security for the reasonable cost of car- 13 rying out a cooperative arrangement described in subpara- 14 graph (A) between the Commissioner of Social Security 15 and an agency, the Commissioner shall— 16 ‘‘(i) establish a defined calculation method for 17 purposes of calculating the reasonable cost of car- 18 rying out the arrangement that does not take into 19 account any services, information, or unrelated pay- 20 ments provided by the agency to the Commissioner; 21 and 22 ‘‘(ii) reimbursement payments shall be ac- 23 counted for and recorded separately from other 24 transactions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2543.IH H2543 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2543 IH ‘‘(4) The Commissioner of Social Security may enter 1 into similar arrangements with States to provide informa- 2 tion regarding all deceased individuals furnished to or 3 maintained by the Commissioner under this subsection for 4 use by States in programs wholly funded by the States, 5 or for use in the administration of a benefit pension plan 6 or retirement system for employees of a State or a political 7 subdivision thereof, if the requirements of clauses (i), (ii), 8 and (iii) of paragraph (3)(A) are met. For purposes of 9 this paragraph, the terms retirement system and political 10 subdivision have the meanings given such terms in section 11 218(b). 12 ‘‘(5) The Commissioner of Social Security may use 13 or provide for the use of information regarding all de- 14 ceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the Com- 15 missioner under this subsection for statistical purposes 16 and research activities by Federal and State agencies (in- 17 cluding research activities conducted under a contract or 18 a cooperative arrangement (as such terms are defined for 19 purposes of sections 6303 and 6305, respectively, of title 20 31, United States Code) with such an agency) if the re- 21 quirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (3)(A) are 22 met.’’; and 23 (C) in paragraph (8)(A)(i), by striking 24 ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3)’’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2543.IH H2543 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2543 IH and inserting ‘‘clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of para- 1 graph (3)(A)’’. 2 (2) REPEAL.—Effective on the date that is 5 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 4 amendments made by this subsection to paragraphs 5 (3), (4), (5), and (8) of section 205(r) of the Social 6 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) are repealed, and 7 the provisions of section 205(r) of the Social Secu- 8 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) so amended are restored 9 and revived as if such amendments had not been en- 10 acted. 11 (b) AMENDMENTS TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6103(d)(4) of the 13 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 14 (A) in subparagraphs (A) and (B), by 15 striking ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 16 ices’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Com- 17 missioner of Social Security’’; and 18 (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 19 ‘‘such Secretary’’ and all that follows through 20 ‘‘deceased individuals.’’ and inserting ‘‘such 21 Commissioner pursuant to such contract, except 22 that such contract may provide that such infor- 23 mation is only to be used by the Social Security 24 Administration (or any other Federal agency) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2543.IH H2543 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2543 IH for purposes authorized in the Social Security 1 Act or this title.’’. 2 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 3 by this subsection take effect 180 days after the 4 date of enactment of this Act. 5 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON ALTERNATIVE 6 SOURCES OF DEATH DATA.— 7 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commissioner of So- 8 cial Security, in coordination with the Secretary of 9 the Treasury, shall conduct a review of potential al- 10 ternative sources of death data maintained by the 11 non-Federal sources, including sources maintained 12 by State agencies or associations of State agencies, 13 for use by Federal agencies and programs. The re- 14 view shall include analyses of— 15 (A) the accuracy and completeness of such 16 data; 17 (B) interoperability of such data; 18 (C) the extent to which there is efficient 19 accessibility of such data by Federal agencies; 20 (D) the cost to Federal agencies of access- 21 ing and maintaining such data; 22 (E) the security of such data; 23 (F) the reliability of such data; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2543.IH H2543 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2543 IH (G) a comparison of the potential alternate 1 sources of death data to the death data distrib- 2 uted by the Commissioner of Social Security. 3 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 4 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the 5 Office of Management and Budget shall submit a re- 6 port to Congress on the results of the review and 7 analyses required under paragraph (1). The report 8 shall include a recommendation by the Director of 9 the Office of Management and Budget regarding 10 whether to extend the agency access to death data 11 distributed by the Commissioner of Social Security 12 provided under the amendments made by subsection 13 (a)(1) beyond the date on which such amendments 14 are to be repealed under subsection (a)(2). 15 SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE USE OF DATA BY GOVERNMENT 16 AGENCIES TO CURB IMPROPER PAYMENTS. 17 The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery 18 Improvement Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is 19 amended by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘SEC. 8. IMPROVING THE USE OF DEATH DATA BY GOVERN- 21 MENT AGENCIES. 22 ‘‘(a) GUIDANCE BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT 23 AND BUDGET.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2543.IH H2543 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 2543 IH ‘‘(1) GUIDANCE TO AGENCIES.—Not later than 1 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, 2 and in consultation with the Council of Inspectors 3 General on Integrity and Efficiency and the heads of 4 other relevant Federal, State, and local agencies, 5 and Indian tribes and tribal organizations, the Di- 6 rector of the Office of Management and Budget 7 shall issue guidance for each agency or component 8 of an agency that operates or maintains a database 9 of information relating to beneficiaries, annuity re- 10 cipients, or any purpose described in section 11 205(r)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 12 405(r)(3)(B)) for which improved data matching 13 with databases relating to the death of an individual 14 (in this section referred to as death databases) 15 would be relevant and necessary regarding imple- 16 mentation of this section to provide such agencies or 17 components access to the death databases no later 18 than 1 year after such date of enactment. 19 ‘‘(2) PLAN TO ASSIST STATES AND LOCAL 20 AGENCIES AND INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANI- 21 ZATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 22 enactment of this section, the Secretary of Health 23 and Human Services and the Secretary of the Treas- 24 ury shall jointly develop a plan to assist States and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2543.IH H2543 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 2543 IH local agencies, and Indian tribes and tribal organiza- 1 tions, in providing electronically to the Federal Gov- 2 ernment records relating to the death of individuals, 3 which may include recommendations to Congress for 4 any statutory changes or financial assistance to 5 States and local agencies and Indian tribes and trib- 6 al organizations that are necessary to ensure States 7 and local agencies and Indian tribes and tribal orga- 8 nizations can provide such records electronically. 9 The plan may include recommendations for the au- 10 thorization of appropriations or other funding to 11 carry out the plan. 12 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.— 13 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPROVING 14 DATA MATCHING REGARDING PAYMENTS TO DE- 15 CEASED INDIVIDUALS.—Not later than 1 year after 16 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 17 of the Treasury, in consultation with the heads of 18 other relevant Federal agencies, and in consultation 19 with States and local agencies, Indian tribes and 20 tribal organizations, shall submit to Congress a plan 21 to improve how States and local agencies and Indian 22 tribes and tribal organizations that provide benefits 23 under a federally funded program will improve data 24 matching with the Federal Government with respect 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2543.IH H2543 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 2543 IH to the death of individuals who are recipients of such 1 benefits. 2 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 3 after the date of enactment of this section, and for 4 each of the 4 succeeding years, the Secretary of the 5 Treasury shall submit to Congress a report regard- 6 ing the implementation of this section. The first re- 7 port submitted under this paragraph shall include 8 the recommendations of the Secretary required 9 under subsection (a)(2). 10 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms Indian 11 tribe and tribal organization have the meanings given 12 those terms in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 13 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).’’. 14 SEC. 4. PLAN FOR ENSURING THE ACCURACY AND COM- 15 PLETENESS OF DEATH DATA MAINTAINED 16 AND DISTRIBUTED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY 17 ADMINISTRATION. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 19 date of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social 20 Security shall submit to Congress a plan, which shall i [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]