House File 613 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 613
BY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
(SUCCESSOR TO HF 3)
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to public assistance program integrity, making
2 appropriations, and including effective date provisions.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 DIVISION I
2 AUTHENTICATION SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
3 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 239.1 Definitions.
4 As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise
5 requires:
6 1. “Applicant” means an individual who is applying for
7 public assistance benefits in the state.
8 2. “Asset” means the following assets of the members of the
9 applicant’s household:
10 a. All liquid assets.
11 b. All other personal property excluding one vehicle and
12 the fair market value in excess of ten thousand dollars of an
13 additional vehicle.
14 3. “Asset test” means the comparison of the collective
15 value of all countable assets of the members of the applicant’s
16 household to the maximum allowed household asset limit of
17 fifteen thousand dollars.
18 4. “Department” means the department of health and human
19 services.
20 5. “Public assistance” means the supplemental nutrition
21 assistance program or SNAP, the medical assistance program
22 or Medicaid program as defined in section 249A.2, the family
23 investment program as defined in section 239B.1, and the
24 children’s health insurance program.
25 6. “Real-time eligibility system” means real-time electronic
26 access to a system that allows verification of all applicable
27 public assistance program eligibility information based on the
28 most recent information available to the department through
29 nonmodeled earned and unearned income, such as commercially
30 available wage data.
31 7. “Recipient” means an individual who is receiving public
32 assistance benefits in the state.
33 8. “Supplemental nutrition assistance program” or “SNAP”
34 means benefits provided by the federal program administered
35 through 7 C.F.R. pts. 270 – 283, as amended.
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1 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 239.2 Supplemental nutrition
2 assistance program —— income eligibility.
3 The department shall establish the gross countable monthly
4 income threshold for the supplemental nutrition assistance
5 program at less than or equal to one hundred sixty percent of
6 the federal poverty level for the household size.
7 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 239.3 Identity authentication ——
8 rules.
9 Unless otherwise prohibited by federal law or regulation,
10 prior to the department awarding public assistance benefits, an
11 applicant shall complete a computerized identity authentication
12 process to confirm the identity of the applicant. Identity
13 authentication shall be accomplished through a knowledge-based
14 questionnaire consisting of financial and personal questions.
15 The questionnaire shall contain questions tailored to assist
16 persons without a bank account or those who have poor access
17 to financial and banking services or who do not have an
18 established credit history. The computerized identity
19 authentication process and questionnaire may be completed and
20 submitted online, in person, or via telephone by the applicant
21 or a person authorized by the applicant. The department may
22 adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to administer this section.
23 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 239.4 Asset test for supplemental
24 nutrition assistance program.
25 1. For the purposes of determining eligibility for receipt
26 of SNAP benefits, the department shall conduct an asset test
27 on all members of the applicant’s household. The allowable
28 financial resources to be included in or excluded from a
29 determination of eligibility for SNAP shall be those specified
30 in 7 U.S.C. §2014(g)(l), to the extent consistent with the term
31 “asset” as defined in this chapter.
32 2. Prior to determining eligibility for SNAP benefits,
33 the department shall access, at a minimum, for every member
34 of the applicant’s household, the following information from
35 the following federal, state, and miscellaneous sources, or
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1 successor sources:
2 a. Federal sources and information:
3 (1) Earned and unearned income information maintained by
4 the internal revenue service.
5 (2) The following sources and information maintained by the
6 United States social security administration:
7 (a) Earned income information.
8 (b) Death register information.
9 (c) Prisoner or incarceration status information.
10 (d) Supplemental security income information maintained in
11 the state data exchange database.
12 (e) Beneficiary records and earnings information maintained
13 in the beneficiary and earnings data exchange database.
14 (f) Earnings information maintained in the beneficiary
15 earnings exchange record system database.
16 (3) Income and employment information maintained in the
17 national directory of new hires database by the office of child
18 support enforcement of the administration for children and
19 families.
20 b. State sources and information:
21 (1) The department’s sources and information including but
22 not limited to all of the following:
23 (a) Income and employment information maintained by the
24 child support recovery unit.
25 (b) Child care assistance information maintained by the
26 department.
27 (c) Enrollment status in other public assistance programs.
28 (2) The department of workforce development sources and
29 information including all of the following:
30 (a) Employment information.
31 (b) Employer weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports of
32 income and unemployment insurance payments.
33 c. Miscellaneous sources:
34 (1) Any existing real-time database of persons currently
35 receiving benefits in other states, such as the national
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1 accuracy clearinghouse.
2 (2) Any lottery winner databases maintained by the Iowa
3 1ottery.
4 (3) Any existing real-time eligibility system that includes
5 employment and income information maintained by a consumer
6 reporting agency, as defined by the federal Fair Credit
7 Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §1681a, for the purpose of obtaining
8 real-time employment and income information.
9 3. Prior to determining eligibility for SNAP benefits, the
10 department shall access information for every member of the
11 applicant’s household from the following public records:
12 a. A nationwide public records data source of physical asset
13 ownership. The data source may include but is not limited to
14 real property, automobiles, watercraft, aircraft, and luxury
15 vehicles, or any other vehicle owned by the applicant.
16 b. National and state financial institutions in order
17 to locate undisclosed depository accounts or verify account
18 balances of disclosed accounts.
19 4. The department shall enter into a memorandum of
20 understanding with any department, division, bureau, section,
21 unit, or any other subunit of a department to obtain the
22 information specified in this section.
23 5. The provisions of this section shall not apply if every
24 member of the applicant’s household receives supplemental
25 security income.
26 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION. 239.5 Verification and authentication
27 systems —— public assistance programs.
28 1. No later than July 1, 2025, the department shall
29 redesign an existing system; establish a new computerized
30 income, asset, and identity eligibility verification system;
31 or contract with a third-party vendor to provide for identity
32 verification, identity authentication, asset verification, and
33 dual enrollment prevention in order to deter waste, fraud, and
34 abuse in each public assistance program administered by the
35 department.
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1 2. The department may contract with a third-party vendor
2 to develop or provide a service for a real-time eligibility
3 system that allows the department to verify or authenticate
4 income, assets, and identity eligibility of applicants and
5 recipients to prevent fraud, misrepresentation, and inadequate
6 documentation when determining eligibility for public
7 assistance programs. The system shall be accessed prior to
8 determining eligibility, periodically between eligibility
9 redeterminations, and during eligibility redeterminations
10 and reviews. The department may also contract with a
11 third-party vendor to provide information to facilitate
12 reviews of recipient eligibility conducted by the department.
13 Specifically, the department may contract with a third-party
14 consumer reporting agency, as defined by the federal Fair
15 Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §1681a, for the purpose of
16 obtaining real-time employment and income information.
17 3. A contract entered into under this section shall provide,
18 at a minimum, for all of the following:
19 a. The establishment of the annual savings amount from
20 utilization of the system or service, and a provision that the
21 contract may be terminated contingent upon the savings not
22 exceeding the total yearly cost to the state for utilization of
23 the system or service.
24 b. That the contract shall not preclude the department
25 from continuing to conduct additional eligibility verification
26 or authentication processes, to receive, review, or verify
27 additional information related to the eligibility of an
28 individual, or from contracting with a third-party vendor to
29 provide additional eligibility authentication or verification
30 information.
31 4. The department shall seek federal approval as necessary
32 to implement and administer this section.
33 Sec. 6. PROGRAM REPORT. The department of health and human
34 services shall submit a report to the governor and the general
35 assembly by January 15, 2025, and by January 15 annually
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1 thereafter through January 15, 2030, detailing the impact of
2 the identity authentication measures taken under this division
3 of this Act.
4 DIVISION II
5 SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AND MEDICAID PROGRAM
6 INTEGRITY AND COOPERATION
7 Sec. 7. Section 234.1, subsection 3, Code 2023, is amended
8 by striking the subsection.
9 Sec. 8. Section 234.1, Code 2023, is amended by adding the
10 following new subsections:
11 NEW SUBSECTION. 3A. “Department” means the department of
12 health and human services.
13 NEW SUBSECTION. 5A. “Supplemental nutrition assistance
14 program” or “SNAP” means the same as defined in section 239.1.
15 Sec. 9. Section 234.12A, Code 2023, is amended to read as
16 follows:
17 234.12A Electronic benefits transfer program.
18 1. The department of human services shall maintain an
19 electronic benefits transfer program utilizing electronic funds
20 transfer systems for the food supplemental nutrition assistance
21 program. The electronic benefits transfer program implemented
22 under this section shall not require a retailer to make cash
23 disbursements or to provide, purchase, or upgrade electronic
24 funds transfer system equipment as a condition of participation
25 in the program.
26 2. A point-of-sale terminal which is used only for purchases
27 from a retailer by electronic benefits transfer utilizing
28 electronic funds transfer systems is not a satellite terminal
29 as defined in section 527.2.
30 3. For the purposes of this section, “retailer” means
31 a business authorized by the United States department of
32 agriculture to accept food supplemental nutrition assistance
33 program benefits.
34 Sec. 10. NEW SECTION. 234.12B Ensuring integrity in the
35 supplemental nutrition assistance program —— rules.
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1 1. State records —— individuals. The department shall
2 receive and review all of the following information concerning
3 individuals enrolled in the supplemental nutrition assistance
4 program that indicates a change in circumstances that may
5 affect eligibility:
6 a. Death records. On at least a daily basis, information
7 from the department including but not limited to death records.
8 b. Employment information. On at least a semimonthly
9 basis, information from the department of workforce development
10 including but not limited to changes in employment or wages.
11 c. Residency information. On at least a monthly basis,
12 information to confirm Iowa residency or to identify potential
13 changes in Iowa residency as identified through an automated
14 search process of a database of addresses.
15 d. Incarceration information. On at least a monthly basis,
16 information from the department of corrections.
17 2. State records —— households —— unemployment
18 information. The department shall receive and review on at
19 least a semimonthly basis, information from the department of
20 workforce development including but not limited to potential
21 changes in employment, income, or assets that indicate a change
22 in circumstances that may affect eligibility.
23 3. Federal records —— households. The department shall
24 cross-check information relating to individuals in households
25 enrolled in the supplemental nutrition assistance program with
26 federal databases including but not limited to all of the
27 following, on at least a monthly basis:
28 a. Earned income information, death register information,
29 incarceration records, supplemental security income
30 information, beneficiary records, and earnings information
31 maintained by the United States social security administration.
32 b. Income and employment information maintained in the
33 national directory of new hires database and child support
34 enforcement data maintained by the United States department of
35 health and human services.
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1 c. National fleeing felon information maintained by the
2 United States federal bureau of investigation.
3 4. Rules. The department may adopt rules pursuant to
4 chapter 17A to administer this section.
5 Sec. 11. NEW SECTION. 234.12C Required employment
6 and training for supplemental nutrition assistance program
7 eligibility.
8 The department shall require all able-bodied adults without
9 dependents to participate in mandatory employment and training
10 as a condition of eligibility for supplemental nutrition
11 assistance program benefits.
12 Sec. 12. NEW SECTION. 249A.58 Ensuring integrity in the
13 medical assistance program —— recipient and applicant information
14 reviewed —— rules.
15 1. State records —— recipients. The department shall
16 receive and review all of the following information concerning
17 recipients that indicates a change in circumstances that may
18 affect eligibility:
19 a. Death records. On at least a daily basis, information
20 from the department including but not limited to death records.
21 b. Employment information. On at least a semimonthly
22 basis, information from the department of workforce development
23 including but not limited to changes in employment or wages.
24 c. Residency information. On at least a monthly basis,
25 information to confirm Iowa residency or to identify potential
26 changes in Iowa residency as identified through an automated
27 search process of a database of addresses.
28 d. Unemployment information. On at least a semimonthly
29 basis, information from the department of workforce development
30 including but not limited to potential changes in employment,
31 income, or assets.
32 2. Federal records —— recipients. The department shall
33 cross-check information relating to recipients with federal
34 databases including but not limited to all of the following, on
35 at least a monthly basis:
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1 a. Earned income information, death