[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 4 (Thursday, January 7, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 867-868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00010]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Privacy Act of 1974: Computer Matching Program

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice of Computer Match Program.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Privacy Act of 1974, as 
amended, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines on 
the Conduct of Matching Programs, notice is hereby given that the 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) intends to conduct a computer 
matching program with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Data from the 
proposed match will be used to verify the unearned income of 
nonservice-connected veterans, and those veterans who are zero percent 
service-connected (noncompensable), whose eligibility for VA medical 
care is based on their inability to defray the cost of medical care. 
These veterans supply household income information that includes their 
spouses and dependents at the time of application for VA health care 
benefits.

DATES: Effective Date: The match will start no sooner than 30 days 
after publication of this notice in the Federal Register (FR), or 40 
days after copies of this notice and the agreement of the parties is 
submitted to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget, 
whichever is later, and end not more than 18 months after the agreement 
is properly implemented by the parties. The involved agencies' Data 
Integrity Boards (DIB) may extend this match for 12 months provided the 
agencies certify to their DIBs, within three months of the ending date 
of the original match, that the matching program will be conducted 
without change and that the matching program has been conducted in 
compliance with the original matching program.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through 
www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand-delivery to the Director, 
Regulations Management (02REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Ave. NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202) 
273-9026. Copies of comments received will be available for public 
inspection in the Office of Regulation Policy and Management, Room 
1063B, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through 
Friday (except holidays). Please call (202) 461-4902 for an 
appointment. In addition, during the comment period, comments may be 
viewed online through the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at 
www.Regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Corrie Kittles, Acting Director, VHA

[[Page 868]]

Chief Business Office, Member Services, Health Eligibility Center, 
(404) 848-5300 (this is not a toll free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Veterans Affairs has 
statutory authorization under 38 U.S.C. 5317, 38 U.S.C. 5106, 26 U.S.C. 
6103(l)(7)(D)(viii) and 5 U.S.C. 552a to establish matching agreements 
and request and use income information from other agencies for purposes 
of verification of income for determining eligibility for benefits. 38 
U.S.C. 1710(a)(2)(G), 1710(a)(3), and 1710(b) identify those veterans 
whose basic eligibility for medical care benefits is dependent upon 
their financial status. Eligibility for nonservice-connected and zero 
percent noncompensable service-connected veterans is determined based 
on the veteran's inability to defray the expenses for necessary care as 
defined in 38 U.S.C. 1722. This determination can affect their 
responsibility to participate in the cost of their care through 
copayments and their assignment to an enrollment priority group. The 
goal of this match is to obtain IRS unearned income information data 
needed for the income verification process. The VA records involved in 
the match are ``Enrollment and Eligibility Records--VA'' (147VA16). IRS 
will extract return information with respect to unearned income from 
the Information Return Master File (IRMF) Process File, Treas/IRS 
22.061, through the Disclosure of Information to Federal, State and 
Local Agencies (DIFSLA) program. A copy of this notice has been sent to 
both Houses of Congress and OMB.
    This matching agreement expires 18 months after its effective date. 
This match will not continue past the legislative authorized date to 
obtain this information.

Signing Authority

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or designee, approved this 
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document 
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as 
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Robert L. 
Nabors II, Chief of Staff, approved this document on December 16, 2015 
for publication.

    Dated: January 4, 2016.
Kathleen M. Manwell,
Program Analyst, VA Privacy Service, Office of Privacy and Records 
Management, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2016-00010 Filed 1-6-16; 8:45 am]
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