Social Security Legislative Bulletin

Number: 111-1
Date: January 16, 2009

On January 14, 2009, the House passed H.R. 2, the “Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009,” by a vote of 289-139. The bill would allow States to participate in an electronic verification program with SSA to compare the names and SSNs of Medicaid and CHIP applicants avowing U.S. citizenship or nationality. (This bill is similar to H.R. 3963, which was vetoed by the President in the 110 th Congress, but does not include provisions related to extending SSI's web-based demonstration project to the Medicaid program and protecting families caring for injured service members as described in Legislative Bulletin 110-14.)

The bill contains the following provisions of interest to SSA:

Verification of Declaration of Citizenship or Nationality for Purposes of Eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP

•  Would give States the option to verify an individual's declaration that he or she is a U.S. citizen or national for purposes of Medicaid and/or CHIP eligibility through an electronic comparison of the information provided by the individual with the information in the records maintained by the Commissioner of Social Security.

•  Would provide that a State could submit for comparison with the Social Security Administration (SSA) records, the name and SSN of an individual who has declared U.S. citizenship or nationality. SSA would notify the State in the case of an individual whose name, SSN, or declaration of U.S. citizenship or nationality is inconsistent with the information in SSA's records.

•  In such cases, the State would have to make a reasonable effort to identify and address the causes of the inconsistent information.

•  After such reasonable efforts are made, the State would provide the individual with 90 days to resolve the inconsistency with the Commissioner of Social Security, or to present paper documentation of citizenship (e.g., a U.S. passport or birth certificate combined with a prescribed, acceptable identity document) to the State.

•  The State would disenroll the individual within 30 days after the end of the 90-day period if documentation is not provided or the inconsistency is not resolved with SSA.

•  Would require States that choose the electronic verification method to enter into agreements with the Commissioner to electronically submit for comparison each month the names and SSNs of each individual who has declared to be a U.S. citizen or national and is newly enrolled (but not dually enrolled in another income maintenance program) for that month: (1) through an on-line system or otherwise at least monthly; or, (2) through other methods agreed to by the State and Commissioner and approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, provided that such method is no more burdensome on the individual than the first method.

•  Would appropriate $5,000,000 to the Commissioner of Social Security to remain available until expended to carry out the Commissioner's responsibilities as outlined in the provisions above.

•  Would be effective October 1, 2009.

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