[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1227 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1227

 To amend title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
 Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide States with the option to allow 
legal immigrant pregnant women and children to be eligible for medical 
     assistance under the medicaid program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 16, 1999

    Mr. Chafee (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Graham, Mr. Mack, Mr. 
 Moynihan, and Mr. Jeffords) introduced the following bill; which was 
          read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
 Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide States with the option to allow 
legal immigrant pregnant women and children to be eligible for medical 
     assistance under the medicaid program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Immigrant Children's Health 
Improvement Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. OPTIONAL ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIEN PREGNANT WOMEN AND 
              CHILDREN FOR MEDICAID.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle A of title IV of the Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 
U.S.C. 1611-1614) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 405. OPTIONAL ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIENS FOR MEDICAID.

    ``(a) Optional Medicaid Eligibility for Certain Aliens.--A State 
may elect to waive (through an amendment to its State plan under title 
XIX of the Social Security Act) the application of sections 401(a), 
402(b), 403, and 421 with respect to eligibility for medical assistance 
under the program defined in section 402(b)(3)(C) (relating to the 
medicaid program) of aliens who are lawfully residing in the United 
States (including battered aliens described in section 431(c)), within 
any or all (or any combination) of the following categories of 
individuals:
            ``(1) Pregnant women.--Women during pregnancy (and during 
        the 60-day period beginning on the last day of the pregnancy).
            ``(2) Children.--Children (as defined under such plan), 
        including optional targeted low-income children described in 
        section 1905(u)(2)(B).''.
    (b) Applicability of Affidavits of Support.--Section 213A(a) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1183a(a)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Inapplicability to benefits provided under a state 
        waiver.--For purposes of this section, the term `means-tested 
        public benefits' does not include benefits provided pursuant to 
        a State election and waiver described in section 405 of the 
        Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 
        of 1996.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 401(a) of the Personal Responsibility and Work 
        Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1611(a)) is 
        amended by inserting ``and section 405'' after ``subsection 
        (b)''.
            (2) Section 402(b)(1) of the Personal Responsibility and 
        Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 
        1612(b)(1)) is amended by inserting ``, section 405,'' after 
        ``403''.
            (3) Section 403(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1613(a)) is 
        amended by inserting ``section 405 and'' after ``provided in''.
            (4) Section 421(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1631(a)) is 
        amended by inserting ``except as provided in section 405,'' 
        after ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law,''.
            (5) Section 1903(v)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 
        U.S.C. 1396b(v)(1)) is amended by inserting ``and except as 
        permitted under a waiver described in section 405(a) of the 
        Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 
        of 1996,'' after ``paragraph (2),''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section take 
effect on October 1, 1999.

SEC. 3. OPTIONAL ELIGIBILITY OF IMMIGRANT CHILDREN FOR SCHIP.

    (a) In General.--Section 405 of the Personal Responsibility and 
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, as added by section 2(a), 
is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by inserting ``and schip'' before the 
        period; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Optional SCHIP Eligibility for Certain Aliens.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), a State may 
        also elect to waive the application of sections 401(a), 402(b), 
        403, and 421 with respect to eligibility of children for child 
        health assistance under the State child health plan of the 
        State under title XXI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1397aa et seq.), but only with respect to children who are 
        lawfully residing in the United States (including children who 
        are battered aliens described in section 431(c)).
            ``(2) Requirement for election.--A waiver under this 
        subsection may only be in effect for a period in which the 
        State has in effect an election under subsection (a) with 
        respect to the category of individuals described in subsection 
        (a)(2) (relating to children).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) applies 
to child health assistance for coverage provided for periods beginning 
on or after October 1, 1999.
                                 <all>