Amendment #387 to H3400
Public Assistance Eligibility Reform
Representatives Jones of North Reading, Peterson of Grafton, Hill of Ipswich, Poirier of North Attleborough, deMacedo of Plymouth, Barrows of Mansfield, Beaton of Shrewsbury, Boldyga of Southwick, D'Emilia of Bridgewater, Durant of Spencer, Ferguson of Holden, Frost of Auburn, Gifford of Wareham, Harrington of Groton, Howitt of Seekonk, Humason of Westfield, Hunt of Sandwich, Orrall of Lakeville, Smola of Palmer and Wong of Saugus move to amend the bill by striking out section 5 in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following section:—
“SECTION 5. Section 16 of chapter 6A of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 5 of chapter 224 of the acts of 2012, is hereby further amended by inserting at the end thereof, the following paragraphs:-
The executive office of health and human services shall establish and maintain a computerized income, asset, and identity eligibility verification system, hereafter referred to as an integrated eligibility system, in compliance with chapter 66A; provided that information held pursuant to the establishment of this system is used in a manner that meets all applicable federal and state privacy and security requirements, to aggregate data necessary to verify income, assets, and identity when determining an applicant’s eligibility for assistance, prior to the distribution of benefits and during eligibility reviews, in order to eliminate the duplication of assistance and deter fraud within each public benefits program administered by the office. For the purpose of verifying identity and preventing the duplication of public assistance, the office shall, as a component of the integrated eligibility system, develop an automated fingerprinting comparison system.
The office may enter into contracts with third-party vendors for the purposes of developing and maintaining the integrated eligibility system; provided that any such vendor shall be required by contract to establish annualized savings realized from the implementation of the integrated verification system and savings shall exceed the total yearly cost to the state for implementing the integrated verification system.
The office shall require all departments, offices, and divisions under the authority of the office, that are administering public benefits programs, prior to awarding, continuing, or reissuing public assistance, to use the integrated eligibility system to match the social security number of each applicant for or recipient of public assistance against, at minimum, information provided by the following public records data sources:
(1) a nationwide public records data source of physical asset ownership such as real property, automobiles, watercraft, aircraft and luxury vehicles;
(2) the department of revenue;
(3) undisclosed depository account information and account balances of disclosed accounts at national and local financial institutions;
(4) a nationwide public records data source of incarcerated individuals;
(5) outstanding default or arrest warrant information maintained by the criminal history systems board, the criminal justice information system, and the warrant management system;
(6) a nationwide best-address and driver's license data source to verify individuals are residents of the State;
(7) the registry of motor vehicles;
(8) the department of elementary and secondary education;
(9) a comprehensive public records database that identifies potential identity fraud or identity theft that can closely associate name, social security number, date of birth, phone and address information; and
(10) a database which is substantially similar to or a successor of a database mentioned in this section.
The office shall require all departments, offices, and divisions, under the authority of the office, that are administering public benefits programs, prior to awarding, continuing, or reissuing public assistance, to use the integrated eligibility system to match the social security number of each applicant and recipient of public assistance against information provided by the following data sources, to the extent such data sources are available:
(1) unearned income information maintained by the Internal Revenue Service;
(2) employer quarterly reports of income and unemployment insurance payment information maintained by the department of labor and workforce development;
(3) earned income information maintained by the Social Security Administration;
(4) immigration status information maintained by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services;
(5) death register information maintained by the Social Security Administration;
(6) prisoner information maintained by the Social Security Administration;
(7) public housing and Section 8 Housing Assistance payment information maintained by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Massachusetts public housing authorities;
(8) national fleeing felon information maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
(9) wage reporting and similar information maintained by states contiguous to this State;
(10) beneficiary records and earnings information maintained by the Social Security Administration in its Beneficiary and Earnings Data Exchange (BENDEX) database;
(11) earnings and pension information maintained by the Social Security Administration in its Beneficiary Earnings Exchange Record System (BEERS) database;
(12) employment information maintained by the department of labor and workforce development and the department of unemployment assistance;
(13) employment information maintained by the United States Department of Health and Human Services in its National Directory of New Hires database;
(14) supplemental Security Income information maintained by the Social Security Administration in its SSI State Data Exchange (SDX) database;
(15) workers compensation information maintained by the department of industrial accidents;
(16) veterans’ benefits information maintained by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Massachusetts department of health and human services and department of veterans’ affairs, in the federal Public Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS) database;
(17) child care services information maintained by the department of children and families;
(18) utility payments information maintained by the department of housing and community development under the low income home energy assistance program;
(19) emergency utility payment information maintained by local cities and towns or councils on aging;
(20) a database of all persons who currently hold a license, permit, or certificate from a State agency the cost of which exceeds $1,000; and
(21) a database which is substantially similar to or a successor of a database mentioned in this section.
The office shall work with the departments, offices, or divisions, under the authority of the office, that assist in the administration of public benefit programs, as well as the bureau of program integrity, established pursuant to this chapter, to develop uniform rules and regulations regarding intake procedures and procedures for handling discrepancies that may result between an applicant or recipient’s social security number and one or more of the databases or information tools outlined in this section; provided that an applicant or recipient shall be notified of any discrepancy that arises between their social security number and information retrieved by the integrated eligibility system and the applicant or recipient shall be provided an opportunity to explain any discrepancy; provided that self-declarations by an applicant or recipient shall not be accepted as the sole verification of categorical and financial eligibility during eligibility evaluations and reviews; provided that all self-declarations made on or pursuant to an application for public assistance shall be signed under the pains and penalties of perjury; and, provided further that numerical identifiers, other than valid social security numbers, shall not be used as alternatives to social security numbers for time periods in excess of 3 months. If a recipient is unable to provide an accurate social security number to replace a numerical identifier within a time period of 3 months, the recipient’s public assistance benefits shall be terminated.
Nothing in this section shall preclude the office or any department, office, or division, under the authority of the office, that assists in the administration of public assistance, from conducting additional eligibility verification processes not detailed in this section.”;
and further, by striking out section 86 in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following:—
“SECTION 86. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department of transitional assistance shall consider the following when determining a person’s eligibility for Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children, or TAFDC, and Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children, or EAEDC, benefits administered by the department: (1) the financial value of business assets; (2) proof of income or assets of unverified applicants; (3) the assets or income of responsible relatives; (4) and the assets or income of immigration sponsors. The department shall consider the discovery of any undisclosed business assets and undisclosed income or assets of responsible relatives or immigration sponsors as potentially disqualifying. In addition, all self-declarations made on and pursuant to an application for public assistance and any landlord verification and shared housing verification forms shall be signed under the pains and penalties of perjury.”;
and further, by striking out section 87 in its entirety;
and further, by striking out section 89 in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following:—
“SECTION 89. There is hereby established a special task force on state verification and eligibility consisting of 6 members: the director of the bureau of program integrity, or a designee; the state auditor, or a designee; the attorney general, or a designee; the inspector general, or a designee; the state treasurer and receiver general, or a designee; and the secretary of administration and finance, or a designee, who shall serve as chair of the task force. The task force shall work with the bureau of program integrity to investigate the following issues: (1) the development of a common eligibility standard to be applied to all agencies of the commonwealth administering public assistance programs; (2) the obstacles to the implementation of a common eligibility standard; (3) the fiscal impacts to the commonwealth of implementing a common eligibility standard; (4) any federal limitations on the implementation of such a standard; and (5) any ancillary impacts to the commonwealth or recipients of public benefits. Subject to appropriation, the task force may hire an independent consultant to conduct research and assist with the development of any recommendations. The task force shall report to the general court the results of its investigation and study, and its recommendations, if any, together with drafts of legislation to carry its recommendations into effect, by filing the same with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives on or before December 31, 2013.”;
and further, by striking out section 91 in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following:—
“SECTION 91. The executive office of health and human services shall file a report with the clerks of the house and senate and the house and senate committees on ways and means on or before October 31, 2013, and annually thereafter, detailing the status and effectiveness of the integrated eligibility system and the status and effectiveness of mandatory and suggested data matching efforts outlined in section 16 of chapter 6A of the general laws, including but not limited to data matching efforts with the department of revenue, the department of elementary and secondary education, the department of unemployment assistance, the department of industrial accidents, the registry of motor vehicles, the department of criminal justice information services and the department of corrections. The report shall include the number of people enrolled in each public assistance program pursuant to the implementation of the integrated eligibility system, the number of discrepancies identified by the integrated eligibility system, and the number of people whose benefits were terminated pursuant to discrepancies identified by the integrated eligibility system.”;
and further, by adding the following sections:—
“SECTION AA. Subsection D of section 2 of chapter 18 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby further amended by striking, in line 119, the word “and”;
SECTION BB. Subsection D of section 2 of chapter 18 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word, “section” in line 133, the following clauses:—
; (g) the immediate termination of benefits to any recipient, who has failed to notify the department of a change of address, and who the department has attempted to contact by mail, but whose mail communication has been returned to the department as undeliverable; and
(h) the immediate termination of benefits to any recipient who has failed to provide the department with a social security number within 3 months of application for assistance, pursuant to section 16 of chapter 6A of the general laws
SECTION CC. The integrated eligibility system, established pursuant to section 5 of this bill, shall be implemented no later than January 1, 2014 for MassHealth and no later than June 1, 2014 for all other public assistance programs.”.