Fairness for Seniors and People with Disabilities During COVID-19 Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7830 To provide protections to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries relating to extra payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 29, 2020 Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. NEAL, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. EVANS, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. MURPHY of Flor- ida, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. PORTER, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. THOMPSON of California, and Mr. HORSFORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide protections to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries relating to extra payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7830.IH H7830 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7830 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness for Seniors 2 and People with Disabilities During COVID-19 Act of 3 2020’’. 4 SEC. 2. SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARY PROTECTIONS RE- 5 GARDING INCORRECT PAYMENTS DURING 6 COVID-19. 7 (a) NO LIABILITY OR RECOVERY WITH RESPECT TO 8 CERTAIN INCORRECT PAYMENTS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 10 provision of title II, title VIII, title XI, or title XVI 11 of the Social Security Act, in the case of any pay- 12 ment under title II, title VIII, or title XVI of such 13 Act of more than the correct amount for any month 14 during the period beginning on March 1, 2020, and 15 ending on December 31, 2020 (other than a pay- 16 ment described in paragraph (2)), no person, estate, 17 State, or organization shall be liable for the repay- 18 ment of the amount of such payment in excess of 19 the correct amount and the Commissioner of Social 20 Security shall not seek recovery of benefits under 21 section 204, 808, 1147, or 1631(b) from any person, 22 estate, State, or organization. 23 (2) AMOUNTS SUBJECT TO LIABILITY AND RE- 24 COVERY.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7830.IH H7830 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7830 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—A payment described in 1 this paragraph is a payment of more than the 2 correct amount resulting from— 3 (i) a conviction for an offense under 4 section 208(a), 811, or 1632(a); 5 (ii) a redetermination of the entitle- 6 ment of an individual to benefits made 7 under section 205(u) or 1631(e)(7) when 8 there is reason to believe that an incorrect 9 or incomplete statement that is material to 10 determining such entitlement is knowingly 11 made or that information that is material 12 to the determination is knowingly con- 13 cealed; or 14 (iii) a determination that a represent- 15 ative payee misused benefits made under 16 section 205(j), 807, or 1631(a)(2). 17 (B) LIMITATION.—For purposes of para- 18 graph (1), this paragraph shall not apply with 19 respect to any payment of more than the cor- 20 rect amount resulting from an offense or deter- 21 mination that occurred before March 1, 2020. 22 (b) NOTIFICATIONS; SUSPENSION OF RECOVERY 23 UPON REQUEST.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7830.IH H7830 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7830 IH (1) RECOVERY BY ADJUSTMENT OF BENE- 1 FITS.— 2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 3 31, 2020, the Commissioner of Social Security 4 shall— 5 (i) notify each covered individual of 6 the opportunity to request that the adjust- 7 ment of benefits described in subparagraph 8 (B) be reduced or suspended during the 9 period described in subsection (a)(1); and 10 (ii) reduce or suspend (as requested) 11 such adjustment immediately upon receipt 12 of the request. 13 (B) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—In this para- 14 graph, the term ‘‘covered individual’’ means an 15 individual with respect to whom the recovery of 16 any payment under title II, title VIII, or title 17 XVI of the Social Security Act of more than the 18 correct amount (other than a payment de- 19 scribed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph 20 (a)(2)) is in effect, by adjustment of the indi- 21 vidual’s monthly benefits or underpayments, for 22 any month during the period described in sub- 23 section (a)(1). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7830.IH H7830 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7830 IH (2) RECOVERY BY INSTALLMENT AGREE- 1 MENTS.—Not later than October 31, 2020, the Com- 2 missioner of Social Security shall notify each party 3 owing a debt to the Social Security Administration 4 (other than a debt arising from a payment described 5 in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (a)(2)) with re- 6 spect to which an installment agreement is in effect 7 of the opportunity to request that the installment 8 payments under such agreement be suspended dur- 9 ing the period described in subsection (a)(1), and 10 shall suspend such payments upon request. The 11 Commissioner shall deem a debt for which such a 12 suspension has been made to be not delinquent dur- 13 ing such period. 14 (c) REPORT.—Not later than September 30, 2020, 15 the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit a report 16 to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 17 Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 18 Senate describing the Commissioner’s activities under this 19 section, including a planned timeframe for the resumption 20 of overpayment processing and collection, and any barriers 21 or obstacles to that timeframe. 22 (d) DEEMED ELIGIBILITY FOR SSI FOR PURPOSES 23 OF DETERMINING MEDICAID ELIGIBILITY.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7830.IH H7830 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7830 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provi- 1 sion of title XVI or title XIX of the Social Security 2 Act (or section 212(a) of Public Law 93–66), each 3 individual who receives a covered supplemental pay- 4 ment for any month during the period described in 5 subsection (a)(1) and is subsequently determined to 6 be ineligible for such payment shall be deemed to be 7 a recipient of supplemental security income benefits 8 under title XVI or State supplementary benefits of 9 the type referred to in section 1616(a) of such Act 10 (or payments of the type described in section 212(a) 11 of Public Law 93–66), as the case may be, for such 12 month for purposes of determining the individual’s 13 eligibility for medical assistance under a State plan 14 approved under title XIX of the Social Security Act 15 (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) (or a waiver of such plan). 16 (2) COVERED SUPPLEMENTAL PAYMENT.—For 17 purposes of this subsection, a covered supplemental 18 payment is— 19 (A) a payment of a supplemental security 20 income benefit under title XVI of the Social Se- 21 curity Act; or 22 (B) a State supplementary payment of the 23 type referred to in section 1616(a) of such title 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7830.IH H7830 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7830 IH (or a payment of the type described in section 1 212(a) of Public Law 93–66). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7830.IH H7830 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS