I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1399

To amend title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide States with the option to allow

legal immigrant pregnant women, children, and blind or disabled medically needy individuals to be eligible for medical assistance under the

Medicaid Program, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 14, 1999

Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Ms.

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. COYNE, Mrs.

CLAYTON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. BERMAN, Mr.

MCDERMOTT, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. FROST, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. RUSH, Mr.

MENENDEZ, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. DOOLEY

of California, Ms. LEE, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, and Mr. DIAZ-BALART) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways

and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Commerce, Agriculture,

and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work

Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide States

with the option to allow legal immigrant pregnant

women, children, and blind or disabled medically needy

individuals to be eligible for medical assistance under

the Medicaid Program, and for other purposes.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness for Legal Im5 migrants Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. OPTIONAL ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIEN PREG7 NANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN FOR MED8 ICAID.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title IV of the Per10 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation

11 Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1611–1614) is amended by adding

12 at the end the following:

13 ‘‘SEC. 405. OPTIONAL ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIENS FOR

14 MEDICAID.

15 ‘‘(a) OPTIONAL MEDICAID ELIGIBILITY FOR CER16 TAIN ALIENS.—A State may elect to waive (through an

17 amendment to its State plan under title XIX of the Social

18 Security Act) the application of sections 401(a), 402(b),

19 403, and 421 with respect to eligibility for medical assist20 ance under the program defined in section 402(b)(3)(C)

21 (relating to the Medicaid Program) of aliens who are law22 fully residing in the United States (including battered

23 aliens described in section 431(c)), within any or all (or

24 any combination) of the following categories of individuals:
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1 ‘‘(1) PREGNANT WOMEN.—Women during preg2 nancy (and during the 60-day period beginning on

3 the last day of the pregnancy).

4 ‘‘(2) CHILDREN.—Children (as defined under

5 such plan), including optional targeted low-income

6 children described in section 1905(u)(2)(B).’’.

7 (b) APPLICABILITY OF AFFIDAVITS OF SUPPORT.—

8 Section 213A(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

9 (8 U.S.C. 1183a(a)) is amended by adding at the end the

10 following:

11 ‘‘(4) INAPPLICABILITY TO BENEFITS PROVIDED

12 UNDER A STATE WAIVER.—For purposes of this sec13 tion, the term ‘means-tested public benefits’ does not

14 include benefits provided pursuant to a State elec15 tion and waiver described in section 405 of the Per16 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec17 onciliation Act of 1996.’’.

18 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

19 (1) Section 401(a) of the Personal Responsi20 bility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of

21 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1611(a)) is amended by inserting

22 ‘‘and section 405’’ after ‘‘subsection (b)’’.

23 (2) Section 402(b)(1) of the Personal Responsi24 bility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of
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1 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612(b)(1)) is amended by inserting

2 ‘‘, section 405,’’ after ‘‘403’’.

3 (3) Section 403(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C.

4 1613(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘section 405 and’’

5 after ‘‘provided in’’.

6 (4) Section 421(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C.

7 1631(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘except as pro8 vided in section 405,’’ after ‘‘Notwithstanding any

9 other provision of law,’’.

10 (5) Section 1903(v)(1) of the Social Security

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(v)(1)) is amended by insert12 ing ‘‘and except as permitted under a waiver de13 scribed in section 405(a) of the Personal Responsi14 bility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of

15 1996,’’ after ‘‘paragraph (2),’’.

16 (d) RETROACTIVITY OF EFFECTIVE DATE.—The

17 amendments made by this section shall take effect as if

18 included in the enactment of title IV of the Personal Re19 sponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of

20 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1611 et seq.), except that the amendment

21 made by subsection (b) shall apply as if included in the

22 enactment of section 551(a) of the Illegal Immigration Re23 form and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (division

24 C of Public Law 104–208).
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1 SEC. 3. OPTIONAL ELIGIBILITY OF IMMIGRANT CHILDREN

2 FOR SCHIP.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 405 of the Personal Re4 sponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of

5 1996, as added by section 2(a), is amended—

6 (1) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘AND SCHIP’’

7 before the period; and

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub9 section:

10 ‘‘(b) OPTIONAL SCHIP ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN

11 ALIENS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a

13 State may also elect to waive the application of sec14 tions 401(a), 402(b), 403, and 421 with respect to

15 eligibility of children for child health assistance

16 under the State child health plan of the State under

17 title XXI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

18 1397aa et seq.), but only with respect to children

19 who are lawfully residing in the United States (in20 cluding children who are battered aliens described in

21 section 431(c)).

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT FOR ELECTION.—A waiver

23 under this subsection may only be in effect for a pe24 riod in which the State has in effect an election

25 under subsection (a) with respect to the category of
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1 individuals described in subsection (a)(2) (relating to

2 children).’’.

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

4 subsection (a) applies to child health assistance for cov5 erage provided for periods beginning on or after October

6 1, 1997.

7 SEC. 4. OPTIONAL ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN MEDICALLY

8 NEEDY ALIENS FOR MEDICAID.

9 (a) OPTIONAL ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIENS

10 WHO ARE BLIND OR DISABLED MEDICALLY NEEDY AD11 MITTED AFTER AUGUST 22, 1996.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 405(a) of the Per13 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec14 onciliation Act of 1996, as added by section 2(a), is

15 amended by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN BLIND OR DISABLED MEDICALLY

17 NEEDY.—Individuals who are considered blind or

18 disabled under section 1614(a) of the Social Security

19 Act (42 U.S.C. 1382c(a)) and who, but for sections

20 401(a), 402(b) and 403 (except as waived under this

21 subsection), would be eligible for medical assistance

22 under clause (ii)(IV) of section 1902(a)(10)(A) of

23 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

24 1396a(a)(10)(A)), or would be eligible for such as25 sistance under any other clause of that section of
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1 that Act because the individual, if enrolled in the

2 program under title XVI of the Social Security Act,

3 would receive supplemental security income benefits

4 or a State supplementary payment under that

5 title.’’.

6 (2) RETROACTIVITY OF EFFECTIVE DATE.—The

7 amendment made by paragraph (1) shall take effect

8 as if included in the enactment of title IV of the

9 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec10 onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1611 et seq.).

11 (b) OPTIONAL ELIGIBILITY OF MEDICALLY NEEDY

12 ALIENS REQUIRING A CERTAIN LEVEL OF CARE.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 405 of the Personal

14 Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation

15 Act of 1996, as added by section 2(a) and as amend16 ed by section 3(a) and subsection (a), is further

17 amended by adding at the end the following new

18 subsection:

19 ‘‘(c) OPTIONAL ELIGIBILITY FOR MEDICALLY NEEDY

20 ALIENS REQUIRING A CERTAIN LEVEL OF CARE.—A

21 State may also elect to waive the application of sections

22 401(a), 402(b), and 421 with respect to eligibility for med23 ical assistance under the program defined in section

24 402(b)(3)(C) (relating to the Medicaid Program) of aliens

25 who—
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1 ‘‘(1) were lawfully residing in the United States

2 on August 22, 1996; and

3 ‘‘(2) are residents of a nursing facility (as de4 fined in section 1919(a) of the Social Security Act

5 (42 U.S.C. 1396r(a)), or require the level of care

6 provided in a such a facility or in an intermediate

7 care facility, the cost of which could be reimbursed

8 under the State plan under title XIX of that Act.’’.

9 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

10 by paragraph (1) shall take effect as if included in

11 the enactment of title IV of the Personal Responsi12 bility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of

13 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1611 et seq.).

14 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIENS FOR SSI.

15 (a) AGED ALIENS LAWFULLY RESIDING IN THE

16 UNITED STATES ON AUGUST 22, 1996.—Section

17 402(a)(2) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor18 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612(a)(2))

19 is amended by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(L) SSI EXCEPTION FOR AGED ALIENS

21 LAWFULLY RESIDING IN THE UNITED STATES

22 ON AUGUST 22, 1996.—With respect to eligibility

23 for the program defined in paragraph (3)(A),

24 paragraph (1) shall not apply to any individual
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1 who was lawfully residing in the United States

2 on August 22, 1996, and has attained age 65.’’.

3 (b) BLIND OR DISABLED QUALIFIED ALIENS WHO

4 ENTERED THE UNITED STATES AFTER AUGUST 22,

5 1996.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(a)(2) of the

7 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec8 onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612(a)(2)), as

9 amended by subsection (a), is amended by adding at

10 the end the following:

11 ‘‘(M) SSI EXCEPTION FOR BLIND OR DIS12 ABLED QUALIFIED ALIENS WHO ENTERED THE

13 UNITED STATES AFTER AUGUST 22, 1996.—With

14 respect to eligibility for the program defined in

15 paragraph (3)(A), paragraph (1) and section

16 421 shall not apply to any individual who en17 tered the United States on or after August 22,

18 1996 with a status within the meaning of the

19 term ‘qualified alien’, and became blind or dis20 abled (within the meaning of section 1614(a) of

21 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382c(a)))

22 after the date of such entry.’’.

23 (2) EXCEPTION FROM 5-YEAR BAN.—Section

24 403(b) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Op25 portunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C.
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1 1613(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing:

3 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN BLIND OR DISABLED ALIENS.—

4 An alien described in section 402(a)(2)(M), but only

5 with respect to the programs specified in subsections

6 (a)(3)(A) and (b)(3)(C) of section 402 (and, with re7 spect to such programs, section 421 shall not apply

8 to such an alien).’’.

9 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

10 421(a) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Op11 portunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C.

12 1631(a)), as amended by section 2(c)(4), is amended

13 by inserting ‘‘, section 402(a)(2)(M), and section

14 403(b)(3)’’ after section ‘‘405’’.

15 (4) ENFORCEMENT OF AFFIDAVITS OF SUP16 PORT.—For provisions relating to the enforcement

17 of affidavits of support in cases of individuals made

18 eligible for benefits under the amendment made by

19 paragraph (1), see section 213A of the Immigration

20 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1183a).

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

22 subsections (a) and (b) are effective with respect to bene23 fits payable for months after the month in which this Act

24 is enacted, but only on the basis of applications filed on

25 or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 6. ELIGIBILITY OF LEGAL IMMIGRANTS FOR FOOD

2 STAMPS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(a)(2) of the Personal

4 Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act

5 of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612(a)(2)), as amended by section

6 5(b)(1), is amended by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(N) FOOD STAMP EXCEPTION FOR

8 ALIENS LAWFULLY RESIDING IN THE UNITED

9 STATES ON AUGUST 22, 1996.—With respect to

10 eligibility for benefits for the specified Federal

11 program described in paragraph (3)(B), para12 graph (1) shall not apply to an individual who

13 was lawfully residing in the United States on

14 August 22, 1996.’’.

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

16 subsection (a) applies to benefits under the food stamp

17 program, as defined in section 3(h) of the Food Stamp

18 Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2012(h)) for months beginning at

19 least 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

20 SEC. 7. ELIGIBILITY OF LEGAL IMMIGRANTS SUFFERING

21 FROM DOMESTIC ABUSE.

22 (a) EXEMPTION FROM SSI AND FOOD STAMPS

23 BAN.—Section 402(a)(2) of the Personal Responsibility

24 and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8

25 U.S.C. 1612(a)(2)), as amended by section 6(a), is amend26 ed by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(O) BATTERED IMMIGRANTS.—With re2 spect to eligibility for benefits for a specified

3 Federal program (as defined in paragraph (3)),

4 paragraph (1) shall not apply to any individual

5 described in section 431(c).’’.

6 (b) EXEMPTION FROM 5-YEAR BAN.—Section 403(b)

7 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec8 onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1613(b)), as amended

9 by section 5(b)(2), is amended by adding at the end the

10 following:

11 ‘‘(4) BATTERED IMMIGRANTS.—An alien de12 scribed in section 431(c).’’.

13 (c) EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF BATTERED IMMI14 GRANTS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 431(c) of the Per16 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec17 onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641(c)) is

18 amended—

19 (A) in paragraphs (1)(A), (2)(A), and

20 (3)(A) by inserting ‘‘ or the benefits to be pro21 vided would alleviate the harm from such bat22 tery or cruelty or would enable the alien to

23 avoid such battery or cruelty in the future’’ be24 fore the semicolon; and
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1 (B) in the matter following paragraph (3),

2 by inserting ‘‘ and for determining whether the

3 benefits to be provided under a specific Federal,

4 State, or local program would alleviate the

5 harm from such battery or extreme cruelty or

6 would enable the alien to avoid such battery or

7 extreme cruelty in the future’’ before the pe8 riod.

9 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT REGARDING

10 SPONSOR DEEMING.—Section 421(f)(1) of the Per11 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec12 onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1631(f)(1)) is

13 amended—

14 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or

15 would alleviate the harm from such battery or

16 cruelty, or would enable the alien to avoid such

17 battery or cruelty in the future’’ before the

18 semicolon; and

19 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘or

20 would alleviate the harm from such battery or

21 cruelty, or would enable the alien to avoid such

22 battery or cruelty in the future’’ before the pe23 riod.

24 (d) CONFORMING DEFINITION OF ‘‘FAMILY’’ USED

25 IN LAWS GRANTING FEDERAL PUBLIC BENEFIT ACCESS
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1 FOR BATTERED IMMIGRANTS TO STATE FAMILY LAW.—

2 Section 431(c) of the Personal Responsibility and Work

3 Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C.

4 1641(c)) is amended—

5 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘by a

6 spouse or a parent, or by a member of the spouse

7 or parent’s family residing in the same household as

8 the alien and the spouse or parent consented to, or

9 acquiesced in, such battery or cruelty,’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘by a spouse, parent, son, or daughter, or by

11 any individual having a relationship with the alien

12 covered by the civil or criminal domestic violence

13 statutes of the State or Indian country where the

14 alien resides, or the State or Indian country in

15 which the alien, the alien’s child, or the alien child’s

16 parents received a protection order, or by any indi17 vidual against whom the alien could obtain a protec18 tion order,’’; and

19 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘by a

20 spouse or parent of the alien (without the active par21 ticipation of the alien in the battery or cruelty), or

22 by a member of the spouse or parent’s family resid23 ing in the same household as the alien and the

24 spouse or parent consented or acquiesced to such

25 battery or cruelty,’’ and inserting ‘‘by a spouse, par-
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1 ent, son, or daughter of the alien (without the active

2 participation of alien in the battery or cruelty) or by

3 any individual having a relationship with the alien

4 covered by the civil or criminal domestic violence

5 statutes of the State or Indian county where the

6 alien resides, or the State or Indian country in

7 which the alien, the alien’s child, or the alien child’s

8 parent received a protection order, or by any indi9 vidual against whom the alien could obtain a protec10 tion order,’’.

11 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

12 this section apply to Federal means-tested public benefits

13 provided on or after the date of enactment of this Act.

Æ