[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2218 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2218

 To amend title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996 to restore Medicaid coverage for citizens of 
  the Freely Associated States lawfully residing in the United States 
 under the Compacts of Free Association between the Government of the 
     United States and the Governments of the Federated States of 
 Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of 
                                 Palau.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 23, 2019

Ms. Hirono (for herself and Mr. Schatz) 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 restore Medicaid coverage for citizens of 
  the Freely Associated States lawfully residing in the United States 
 under the Compacts of Free Association between the Government of the 
     United States and the Governments of the Federated States of 
 Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of 
                                 Palau.

    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 ``Covering our FAS Allies Act''.

SEC. 2. MEDICAID COVERAGE FOR CITIZENS OF FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.

    (a) In General.--Section 402(b)(2) of the Personal Responsibility 
and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612(b)(2)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(G) Medicaid exception for citizens of freely 
                associated states.--With respect to eligibility for 
                benefits for the designated Federal program defined in 
                paragraph (3)(C) (relating to the Medicaid program), 
                section 401(a) and paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 
                individual who lawfully resides in 1 of the 50 States 
                or the District of Columbia in accordance with the 
                Compacts of Free Association between the Government of 
                the United States and the Governments of the Federated 
                States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall 
                Islands, and the Republic of Palau and shall not apply, 
                at the option of the Governor of Puerto Rico, the 
                Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or 
                American Samoa as communicated to the Secretary of 
                Health and Human Services in writing, to any individual 
                who lawfully resides in the respective territory in 
                accordance with such Compacts.''.
    (b) Exception to 5-Year Limited Eligibility.--Section 403(d) of 
such Act (8 U.S.C. 1613(d)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) an individual described in section 402(b)(2)(G), but 
        only with respect to the designated Federal program defined in 
        section 402(b)(3)(C).''.
    (c) Definition of Qualified Alien.--Section 431(b) of such Act (8 
U.S.C. 1641(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``; or'' at the end and 
        inserting a comma;
            (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``, or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(8) an individual who lawfully resides in the United 
        States in accordance with a Compact of Free Association 
        referred to in section 402(b)(2)(G), but only with respect to 
        the designated Federal program defined in section 402(b)(3)(C) 
        (relating to the Medicaid program).''.
    (d) Conforming Amendments.--Section 1108 of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1308) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (f), in the matter preceding paragraph 
        (1), by striking ``subsection (g)'' and inserting ``subsections 
        (g) and (h)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Expenditures for medical assistance provided to an individual 
described in section 431(b)(8) of the Personal Responsibility and Work 
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 shall not be taken into account 
for purposes of applying payment limits under subsections (f) and 
(g).''.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to benefits for items and services furnished on or after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
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