Medicaid Accountability Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2377 To apply the Medicaid asset verification program to all applicants for, and recipients of, medical assistance in all States and territories, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 31, 2019 Mr. INHOFE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To apply the Medicaid asset verification program to all appli- cants for, and recipients of, medical assistance in all States and territories, 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 ‘‘Medicaid Account- 4 ability Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2377.IS S2377 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2377 IS SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF MEDICAID ASSET TEST TO ALL AP- 1 PLICANTS FOR, AND RECIPIENTS OF, MED- 2 ICAL ASSISTANCE IN ALL STATES AND TERRI- 3 TORIES. 4 (a) APPLICATION TO ALL APPLICANTS AND RECIPI- 5 ENTS.—Section 1940(b)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act 6 (42 U.S.C. 1396w(b)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘on 7 the basis of being aged, blind, or disabled’’. 8 (b) APPLICATION TO THE TERRITORIES.—Section 9 1940(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396w(a)) is amended by 10 striking paragraph (4). 11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 12 subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on the date of 13 enactment of this Act. 14 (d) PHASE-IN IMPLEMENTATION.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the 180 day period 16 that begins on the date of enactment of this Act, the 17 Secretary of Health and Human Services shall re- 18 quire States to submit and implement an asset 19 verification program under section 1940 of the So- 20 cial Security Act (as amended by subsections (a) and 21 (b)) in such manner as is designed to result in the 22 application of such programs, in the aggregate for 23 all States, to enrollment of approximately, but not 24 less than, the following percentage of enrollees, in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2377.IS S2377 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2377 IS the aggregate for all States, by the end of the fiscal 1 year involved: 2 (A) 12.5 percent by the end of fiscal year 3 2020. 4 (B) 25 percent by the end of fiscal year 5 2021. 6 (C) 50 percent by the end of fiscal year 7 2022. 8 (D) 75 percent by the end of fiscal year 9 2023. 10 (E) 100 percent by the end of fiscal year 11 2024. 12 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In selecting States under 13 paragraph (1), the Secretary of Health and Human 14 Services shall consult with the States involved and 15 take into account the feasibility of implementing 16 asset verification programs in each such State. 17 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in paragraph (1) 18 shall be construed as preventing a State from re- 19 questing, and the Secretary of Health and Human 20 Services from approving, the implementation of an 21 asset verification program in advance of the deadline 22 otherwise established under such paragraph. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2377.IS S2377 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2377 IS SEC. 3. MEDICAID RESOURCES ELIGIBILITY REQUIRE- 1 MENT. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1902(e)(14)(C) of the So- 3 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(e)(14)(C)) is amended 4 to read as follows— 5 ‘‘(C) RESOURCES TEST REQUIREMENT.— 6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 7 any other provision of this title, in the case 8 of any individual with respect to whom a 9 determination of income eligibility for med- 10 ical assistance under the State plan or 11 under any waiver of such plan is required, 12 the State shall also apply a resources eligi- 13 bility test that meets the requirement of 14 clause (ii). 15 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.—A State re- 16 sources eligibility test meets the require- 17 ment of this clause if the test precludes eli- 18 gibility for any individual whose resources 19 (as determined under section 1613 for pur- 20 poses of the supplemental security income 21 program) exceed the maximum amount of 22 resources that an individual may have and 23 obtain benefits under that program, or 24 such lower amount of resources as the 25 State shall establish.’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2377.IS S2377 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2377 IS (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 2 the amendment made by subsection (a) shall take ef- 3 fect on October 1, 2020. 4 (2) RULE FOR CHANGES REQUIRING STATE 5 LEGISLATION.—In the case of a State plan under 6 title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 7 et seq.) which the Secretary of Health and Human 8 Services determines requires State legislation (other 9 than legislation appropriating funds) in order for the 10 plan to meet the additional requirement imposed by 11 the amendment made by subsection (a), the State 12 plan shall not be regarded as failing to comply with 13 the requirements of such title solely on the basis of 14 its failure to meet this additional requirement before 15 the first day of the first calendar quarter beginning 16 after the close of the first regular session of the 17 State legislature that begins after the date of the en- 18 actment of this Act. For purposes of the previous 19 sentence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year 20 legislative session, each year of such session shall be 21 deemed to be a separate regular session of the State 22 legislature. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2377.IS S2377 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS