[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2954 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2954

   To apply the Medicaid asset verification program to all applicants 
     for, and recipients of, medical assistance in all States and 
                  territories, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 27 (legislative day, September 22), 2023

 Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Braun, Mr. 
     Wicker, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Ricketts, and Mr. Lankford) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                          Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To apply the Medicaid asset verification program to all applicants 
     for, and recipients of, medical assistance in all States and 
                  territories, 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 ``Protecting Medicaid Beneficiaries 
Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF MEDICAID ASSET TEST TO ALL APPLICANTS FOR, AND 
              RECIPIENTS OF, MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN ALL STATES AND 
              TERRITORIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 1940 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1396w) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (4); and
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ``on the basis of 
        being aged, blind, or disabled''.
    (b) Rules.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
promulgate such rules as are necessary to implement the amendments made 
by subsection (a).
    (c) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the amendments 
        made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 1 
        year after the date of enactment of this Act.
            (2) Phase-in of implementation.--
                    (A) In general.--During the 1-year period that 
                begins on the date of enactment of this Act, the 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services shall require 
                States to submit and implement a plan for an electronic 
                integrated asset verification program that meets the 
                requirements of section 1940 of the Social Security Act 
                (as amended by subsection (a)).
                    (B) Implementation before effective date.--Nothing 
                in this subsection or section 1940 of the Social 
                Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396w) shall be construed as 
                prohibiting a State from implementing an asset 
                verification program that meets the requirements of 
                such section (as amended by subsection (a)) in advance 
                of the effective date specified under paragraph (1).
                    (C) Delay of effective date.--If a State requests a 
                delay of the effective date specified under paragraph 
                (1) on the basis of ongoing economic hardship 
                limitations, as determined by the chief executive 
                officer of the State, the Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services may delay such effective date for up to 365 
                days.

SEC. 3. MEDICAID RESOURCES ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 1902(e)(14)(C) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1396a(e)(14)(C)) is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(C) Resources test requirement.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Except as provided in 
                        clause (iii), notwithstanding any other 
                        provision of this title, in the case of an 
                        individual with respect to whom a determination 
                        of income eligibility for medical assistance 
                        under the State plan or under any waiver of 
                        such plan is required, the State shall also 
                        apply a resources eligibility test that meets 
                        the requirement of clause (ii).
                            ``(ii) Requirement.--A State resources 
                        eligibility test meets the requirement of this 
                        clause if the test precludes eligibility for 
                        any individual whose resources (as determined 
                        under section 1613 for purposes of the 
                        supplemental security income program) exceed 
                        the maximum amount of resources that an 
                        individual may have and obtain benefits under 
                        that program, or such amount as the State shall 
                        establish.
                            ``(iii) No effect on continuous eligibility 
                        requirements for pregnant and postpartum women 
                        or children.--Nothing in this subparagraph 
                        shall affect the application of paragraph (6), 
                        (12), or (16) of this subsection (relating to 
                        continuous eligibility for pregnant and 
                        postpartum women and children under the age of 
                        19).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1902(e)(6) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(e)(6)) is amended by inserting ``or 
resources'' after ``income'' each place it appears.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this 
Act.

SEC. 4. REQUIRING CMS TO TRACK STATE ASSET VERIFICATION OF FEDERAL 
              MEDICAID PROGRAMS.

    (a) Tracking Asset Verification Program Savings.--Not later than 2 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services, acting through the Centers for Medicare & 
Medicaid Services, shall create a Federal tracking system of the 
savings in Federal expenditures on the Medicaid program under title XIX 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) that are associated 
with the asset verification program requirement added under section 
2(a).
    (b) Reports to Congress.--
            (1) In general.--Beginning with the first year that begins 
        on or after the date of enactment of this Act, each State shall 
        submit to the Secretary, as part of the triennial review 
        required under the Payment Error Rate Measurement program of 
        the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a report, that 
        the Secretary shall make publicly available, on the activities 
        of the State relating to eligibility determinations and 
        renewals conducted during the year for which the report is 
        submitted, and which includes, with respect to such year, the 
        following information:
                    (A) The number of eligibility renewals initiated, 
                and asset checks conducted, beneficiaries renewed on a 
                total and ex parte basis.
                    (B) The number of asset checks conducted out of the 
                number of new applications initiated and the number of 
                applicants determined eligible after such checks.
                    (C) Such other information related to eligibility 
                determinations and renewals during such month, as 
                identified by the Secretary.
            (2) Application to territories.--For purposes of applying 
        the reporting requirements of paragraph (1) to Puerto Rico, the 
        Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and 
        American Samoa, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to 
        modify such requirements so that they are similar to the 
        reporting requirements that apply under such paragraph to the 
        50 States and the District of Columbia but are reasonable given 
        the circumstances of each such territory.
    (c) Enforcement and Corrective Action.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may assess a State's 
        compliance with all Federal requirements applicable to 
        eligibility determinations, redeterminations, and Medicaid 
        payment error rate measurement (PERM) reporting requirements, 
        and, if the Secretary determines that a State did not comply 
        with any such requirements during the 180 day period preceding 
        the assessment, the Secretary may require the State to submit 
        and implement a corrective action plan in accordance with 
        paragraph (2).
            (2) Corrective action plan.--A State that receives a 
        written notice from the Secretary that the Secretary has 
        determined that the State is not in compliance with a 
        requirement described in paragraph (1) shall--
                    (A) not later than 90 days after receiving such 
                notice, submit a corrective action plan to the 
                Secretary;
                    (B) not later than 90 days after the date on which 
                such corrective action plan is submitted to the 
                Secretary, receive approval or disapproval for the plan 
                from the Secretary; and
                    (C) begin implementation of such corrective action 
                plan not later than 90 days after such approval.
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