[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 144 (Tuesday, September 17, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H5301-H5302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




LEVERAGING INTEGRITY AND VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFICIARIES 
                                  ACT

  Mrs. RODGERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 8084) to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to 
require States to verify certain eligibility criteria for individuals 
enrolled for medical assistance quarterly, and for other purposes, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 8084

       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 ``Leveraging Integrity and 
     Verification of Eligibility for Beneficiaries Act'' or the 
     ``LIVE Beneficiaries Act''.

     SEC. 2. VERIFICATION OF CERTAIN ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR 
                   INDIVIDUALS ENROLLED FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE.

       Section 1902 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a) 
     is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) in paragraph (86), by striking ``; and'' and inserting 
     a semicolon;
       (B) in paragraph (87)(D), by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting ``; and''; and
       (C) by inserting after paragraph (87)(D) the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(88) provide that the State shall comply with the 
     eligibility verification requirements under subsection (uu), 
     except that this paragraph shall apply only in the case of 
     the 50 States and the District of Columbia.''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(uu) Verification of Certain Eligibility Criteria.--
       ``(1) In general.--For purposes of subsection (a)(88), the 
     eligibility verification requirements, beginning January 1, 
     2026, are as follows:
       ``(A) Quarterly screening to verify enrollee status.--The 
     State shall, not less frequently than quarterly, review the 
     Death Master File (as such term is defined in section 203(d) 
     of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013) to determine whether 
     any individuals enrolled for medical assistance under the 
     State plan (or waiver of such plan) are deceased.
       ``(B) Disenrollment under state plan.--If the State 
     determines, based on information obtained from the Death 
     Master File, that an individual enrolled for medical 
     assistance under the State plan (or waiver of such plan) is 
     deceased, the State shall--
       ``(i) treat such information as factual information 
     confirming the death of a beneficiary for purposes of section 
     431.213(a) of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations (or any 
     successor regulation);
       ``(ii) disenroll such individual from the State plan (or 
     waiver of such plan); and
       ``(iii) discontinue any payments for medical assistance 
     under this title made on behalf of such individual (other 
     than payments for any items or services furnished to such 
     individual prior to the death of such individual).
       ``(C) Reinstatement of coverage in the event of error.--If 
     a State determines that an

[[Page H5302]]

     individual was misidentified as deceased based on information 
     obtained from the Death Master File, and was erroneously 
     disenrolled from medical assistance under the State plan (or 
     waiver of such plan) based on such misidentification, the 
     State shall immediately reenroll such individual under the 
     State plan (or waiver of such plan), retroactive to the date 
     of such disenrollment.
       ``(2) Rule of construction.--Nothing under this subsection 
     shall be construed to preclude the ability of a State to use 
     other electronic data sources to timely identify potentially 
     deceased beneficiaries, so long as the State is also in 
     compliance with the requirements of this subsection (and all 
     other requirements under this title relating to Medicaid 
     eligibility determination and redetermination).''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Washington (Mrs. Rodgers) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Pallone) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Washington.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend 
their remarks and insert extraneous material in the Record on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Washington?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, according to the HHS Office of Inspector General, States 
pay hundreds of millions per year to Medicaid-managed care 
organizations to care for beneficiaries who have passed away.
  It feels almost impossible to believe that precious Medicaid dollars 
intended to help pregnant women, children, and those in need would 
instead go to insurance companies to help manage care for people who 
are already deceased. Yet, it is happening.
  H.R. 8084 will hopefully change this by requiring States to check the 
Social Security Administration's Death Master File every quarter to 
identify individuals still enrolled in the State's Medicaid program who 
are deceased. This is a commonsense solution that will better serve the 
people Medicaid is intended to help. I encourage my colleagues to 
support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 8084, the LIVE 
Beneficiaries Act, sponsored by Representatives Craig and Bilirakis.
  This bipartisan bill would require State Medicaid agencies to use the 
database managed by the Social Security Administration to identify 
people who have passed away yet remain enrolled in the Medicaid 
program.
  In recent years, the Department of Health and Human Services Office 
of the Inspector General has identified payments made by States to 
Medicaid-managed care plans for people who had already passed away.
  H.R. 8084 would help to prevent this wasteful spending by requiring 
States to check the Social Security Administration's Death Master File 
on a quarterly basis at a minimum and to disenroll anyone who is 
deceased before any additional payments can be made inadvertently on 
their behalf.
  Importantly, though, H.R. 8084 includes protections to ensure that in 
the rare circumstance an individual is falsely identified as deceased, 
the State must reinstate the person's coverage retroactive to the date 
that the person was improperly disenrolled.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting ``yes'' on 
this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the subcommittee chair of the 
Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee of Energy and Commerce, and 
the prime sponsor of this legislation.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair for giving me the 
opportunity to speak. She has done such an outstanding job as chairman 
of the Energy and Commerce Committee. We are so very fortunate. She 
thinks of her constituents and the American people as a whole first, 
and we really appreciate her service.
  I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 8084, the Leveraging 
Integrity and Verification of Eligibility, or the LIVE Beneficiaries 
Act.
  I am grateful to have worked in a bipartisan fashion alongside 
Representative Craig, and I thank her for her support of this 
commonsense bill focused on Medicaid program integrity and preventing 
fraud, waste, and abuse to save taxpayer dollars.
  Our legislation requires CMS to ensure that States are certifying, at 
least on a quarterly basis, that enrollees are not listed on the Social 
Security Administration's Death Master File database. We also include a 
provision to give States the ability to check other death records to 
make sure Medicaid beneficiaries are not deceased.
  I mean, what we want is to save money for our senior citizens and 
those who need Medicaid, as well. This is a good bill. Unfortunately, 
it is a must-pass bill. It shouldn't have to happen, but we are going 
to save dollars, and we are going to take care of this with this 
particular bill.
  We also require immediate disenrollment of beneficiaries should they 
verify the death of Medicaid enrollees. This repeals the current CMS 
guidance that forced States to collect additional information about 
their beneficiaries to ensure their records are correct.
  CMS has started to recognize this problem and take some 
administrative steps with States but not enough. This bill will help 
ensure we are abiding by good governance standards in statute. We know 
that too often fraudulent, wasteful payments occur in the Medicaid and 
Medicare programs, and we should continue to find ways to cut down and 
save taxpayer dollars wherever possible.
  Again, the money is intended to go to our seniors and those who are 
on Medicaid. That is what we are doing with this bill. I commend 
Representative Garcia for his bill, as well. I also thank the chairman 
and the ranking member. I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 8084.

                              {time}  2030

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I am 
prepared to close.
  Mr. Speaker, again, this is a bill that addresses wasteful spending, 
and I think it is important for us to make sure we support it on a 
bipartisan basis.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I urge a ``yes'' 
vote on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. Rodgers) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 8084, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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