[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2449 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2449

To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to allow Federal payments 
     to be made to States under the medicaid program for providing 
pregnancy-related services or services for the testing or treatment for 
   communicable diseases to aliens who are not lawfully admitted for 
  permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing in the United 
           States under color of law, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 2, 2002

Mr. Bingaman (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Torricelli, and Mr. Corzine) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                          Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to allow Federal payments 
     to be made to States under the medicaid program for providing 
pregnancy-related services or services for the testing or treatment for 
   communicable diseases to aliens who are not lawfully admitted for 
  permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing in the United 
           States under color of law, 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 ``Federal Responsibility for Immigrant 
Health Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL PAYMENTS UNDER MEDICAID FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL 
              CONDITIONS OF CERTAIN ALIENS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1903(v)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1396b(v)(2)(A)) of the Social Security Act is amended to 
read as follows:
            ``(A) such care and services are--
                    ``(i) necessary for the treatment of an emergency 
                medical condition of the alien or necessary for the 
                prevention of an emergency medical condition (including 
                dialysis and chemotherapy services),
                    ``(ii) services related to pregnancy (including 
                prenatal, delivery, postpartum, and family planning 
                services) and to other conditions that may complicate 
                pregnancy, or
                    ``(iii) services for the testing or treatment for 
                communicable diseases,''.
    (b) State Option To Eliminate Residency Requirement for Certain 
Aliens.--Section 1903(v)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1396b(v)(2)(B)) is amended by inserting ``, or, at State option, in the 
case of an alien granted parole under section 212(d)(5) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act or an alien admitted into the United 
States as a nonimmigrant alien under section 101(a)(15) of such Act, 
any residency requirement imposed under the State plan'' after 
``payment''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to medical assistance provided on or after the date of enactment 
of this Act.

SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES FURNISHED TO UNDOCUMENTED 
              ALIENS.

    (a) Funding.--Section 4723(a) of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (8 
U.S.C. 1611 note) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) Total Amount Available for Allotments.--There are available 
for allotments for payments to certain States under this section--
            ``(1) for each of fiscal years 1998 through 2001, 
        $25,000,000; and
            ``(2) for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2007, 
        $50,000,000.''.
    (b) Determination of State Allotments.--Section 4723(b) of the 
Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (8 U.S.C. 1611 note) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, by striking 
        ``The Secretary'' and inserting ``Subject to paragraph (3), the 
        Secretary''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Fiscal years 2003 through 2007 allotments.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), 
                the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
                compute an allotment for each of fiscal years 2003 
                through 2007 for each of the 15 States with the highest 
                percentage of undocumented aliens. The amount of such 
                allotment for each such State for a fiscal year shall 
                bear the same ratio to the total amount available for 
                allotments under subsection (a) for the fiscal year as 
                the ratio of the percentage of undocumented aliens in 
                the State in the fiscal year bears to the total of such 
                percentages for all such States for such fiscal year. 
                The amount of allotment to a State provided under this 
                paragraph for a fiscal year that is not paid out under 
                subsection (c) shall be available for payment during 
                the subsequent fiscal year.
                    ``(B) Determination.--For purposes of subparagraph 
                (A), the percentage of undocumented aliens in a State 
                under this section shall be determined based on the 
                most recent available estimates of the resident illegal 
                alien population residing in each State prepared by the 
                Statistics Division of the Immigration and 
                Naturalization Service.''.
    (c) Requiring Use of Funds To Assist Hospitals and Related 
Providers of Emergency Health Services to Undocumented Aliens.--Section 
4723(c) of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (8 U.S.C. 1611 note) is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--
            ``(1) In general.--From the allotments made under 
        subsection (b), the Secretary shall pay to each State amounts 
        described in a State plan, submitted to the Secretary, under 
        which the amounts so allotted will be paid--
                    ``(A) to hospitals and related providers of 
                emergency health services to undocumented aliens that 
                are located in areas that the Secretary or a State 
                determines to be substantially impacted by health costs 
                related to undocumented aliens; and
                    ``(B) on the basis of--
                            ``(i) each eligible hospital's or related 
                        provider's payments under the State plan 
                        approved under title XIX of the Social Security 
                        Act for emergency medical services  described 
in section 1903(v)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(v)(2)(A)); or
                            ``(ii) an appropriate alternative proxy for 
                        measuring the volume of emergency health 
                        services provided to undocumented aliens by 
                        eligible hospitals and related providers.
            ``(2) Definitions; special rules.--For purposes of this 
        subsection:
                    ``(A) The term `hospital' has the meaning given 
                such term in section 1861(e) of the Social Security Act 
                (42 U.S.C. 1395x(e)).
                    ``(B) The term `provider' includes a physician, 
                another health care professional, and an entity that 
                furnishes emergency ambulance services.
                    ``(C) A provider shall be considered to be 
                `related' to a hospital to the extent that the provider 
                furnishes emergency health services to an individual 
                for whom the hospital also furnishes emergency health 
                services.
                    ``(D) Amounts paid under this subsection shall 
                not--
                            ``(i) be substituted for Federal payments 
                        made under title XIX of the Social Security Act 
                        to reimburse a State for expenditures for the 
                        provision of emergency medical services 
                        described in section 1903(v)(2)(A) of such Act; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) be used by a State for the State 
                        share of expenditures for such services under 
                        title XIX of such Act.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply beginning with fiscal year 2003.

SEC. 4. PERMITTING STATES AND LOCALITIES TO PROVIDE HEALTH CARE TO ALL 
              INDIVIDUALS.

    (a) In General.--Section 411 of the Personal Responsibility and 
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1621) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by striking paragraphs (1) and (3); and
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (4) as 
                paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; and
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A), by striking ``(2) and (3)'' and inserting 
                        ``(2), (3), and (4)''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``health,''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph
            ``(4) Such term does not include any health benefit for 
        which payments or assistance are provided to an individual, 
        household, or family eligibility unit by an agency of a State 
        or local government or by appropriated funds of a State or 
        local government.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to health care furnished before, on, or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
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