[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 252 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 252

To prohibit the recoupment of medicaid-related funds recovered from one 
                       or more tobacco companies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 19, 1999

 Mr. Voinovich introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the recoupment of medicaid-related funds recovered from one 
                       or more tobacco companies.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) A commitment to the responsibility that Governors and 
        other State officials have for the well-being of their citizens 
        motivated the decision by 41 States, commonwealths and 
        territories to initiate lawsuits against the tobacco industry 
        that predicated the national settlement negotiated by State 
        Attorneys General in November of 1998.
            (2) State litigation against the tobacco industry is based 
        on the enforcement of State laws and rights, including consumer 
        protection laws, antitrust violations, and unjust enrichment, 
        among others. Lawsuits aimed at reducing youth smoking, 
        securing the public disclosure of tobacco documents, and other 
        goals did not seek only to recover State health care costs.
            (3) Some State claims do not include any health care claims 
        or provisions for the recovery of health care costs.
            (4) The States' Attorneys General carefully crafted the 
        November, 1998 agreement to reflect only State costs. States 
        sought injunctive relief, civil penalties, disgorgement of 
        profits, and other appropriate remedies.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON TREATING ANY FUNDS RECOVERED FROM TOBACCO 
              COMPANIES AS AN OVERPAYMENT FOR PURPOSES OF MEDICAID.

    (a) Amendment to Social Security Act.--Section 1903(d)(3) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(d)(3)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(3)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) and paragraph (2)(B) shall not apply to any 
amount recovered or paid to a State as part of the comprehensive 
settlement of November, 1998 between the tobacco industry and State 
Attorneys General, or as part of any individual settlement or judgment 
reached in litigation initiated or pursued by a State against one or 
more manufacturers of tobacco products, as defined in section 5702(d) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.''.
    (b) Limitation.--Amounts recovered or paid to a State as part of 
the comprehensive settlement of November, 1998 between the tobacco 
industry and State Attorneys General, or as part of any individual 
settlement or judgment reached in litigation initiated or pursued by a 
State against one or more manufacturers of tobacco products, as defined 
in section 5702(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, may not be 
used by a State to draw down funds under a State medical assistance 
plan under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et 
seq.).
    (c) Effective Date.--This section and the amendments made by this 
section shall apply to amounts recovered or paid to a State prior to, 
on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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