II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1740

To better protect consumers when private companies offer services or products

that are provided free of charge by the Social Security Administration

and the Department of Health and Human Services.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 15, 1999

Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. BRYAN, Mr. KERREY, and Mr. DODD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To better protect consumers when private companies offer

services or products that are provided free of charge

by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services.

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 ‘‘Social Security Con5 sumer Protection Act’’.
2

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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF CHARGING FOR SERVICES OR

2 PRODUCTS THAT ARE PROVIDED WITHOUT

3 CHARGE BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINIS4 TRATION OR THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

5 AND HUMAN SERVICES AND PROHIBITION OF

6 SALE, TRANSFER, OR USE OF CERTAIN IN7 FORMATION.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title XI of the Social

9 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by in10 serting after section 1140 the following:

11 ‘‘SEC. 1140A. PROHIBITION OF CHARGING FOR SERVICES

12 OR PRODUCTS THAT ARE PROVIDED WITH13 OUT CHARGE BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY AD14 MINISTRATION OR THE DEPARTMENT OF

15 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AND PROHI16 BITION OF SALE, TRANSFER, OR USE OF CER17 TAIN INFORMATION.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

19 (b), a person shall not offer, for a fee, to assist an indi20 vidual to obtain a product or service that the person knows

21 or should know is provided for no fee by the Social Secu22 rity Administration or the Department of Health and

23 Human Services.

24 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—A person may offer assistance for

25 a fee if, at the time the offer is made, the person provides,

26 to the individual receiving the assistance, a written notice
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1 on the first page of the offer that clearly and prominently

2 contains the following phrase (printed in bold 16 point

3 type): ‘IMPORTANT PUBLIC DISCLOSURE: The

4 product or service described here and assistance to obtain

5 the product or service is available free of charge from the

6 Social Security Administration or the Department of

7 Health and Human Services. You may wish to check the

8 government section of your local phone book for the phone

9 number of your local Social Security Administration or

10 Department of Health and Human Services office for help

11 in obtaining this service for no charge or you may choose

12 to use our service for a fee.’.

13 ‘‘(c) SALE, TRANSFER, OR USE OF INFORMATION.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except with prior, express,

15 written authorization from an individual, a person

16 obtaining any information regarding such individual

17 in connection with an offer of assistance under sub18 section (b) shall not—

19 ‘‘(A) sell or transfer such information; or

20 ‘‘(B) use such information for a purpose

21 other than providing such assistance.

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED FORM OF AUTHORIZATION.—

23 An authorization under paragraph (1) shall be pre24 sented to the individual as a separate document,

25 clearly explaining the purpose and effect of the au-
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1 thorization and the offer under subsection (a) shall

2 not be contingent on such authorization.

3 ‘‘(d) IMPOSITION OF PENALTY.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner or the

5 Secretary (as applicable), pursuant to regulations,

6 may impose a civil monetary penalty against a per7 son for a violation of subsection (a) or (c) not to

8 exceed—

9 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph

10 (B), $5,000; or

11 ‘‘(B) in the case of a violation consisting of

12 a broadcast or telecast, $25,000.

13 ‘‘(2) VIOLATIONS WITH RESPECT TO INDI14 VIDUAL ITEMS.—

15 ‘‘(A) OFFER OF SERVICES.—In the case of

16 an offer of services consisting of pieces of mail,

17 each piece of mail in violation of this section

18 shall be a separate violation.

19 ‘‘(B) USE OF INFORMATION.—In the case

20 of a violation of subsection (c), each sale, trans21 fer, or use of information with respect to an in22 dividual shall be a separate violation.

23 ‘‘(e) RECOVERY OF PENALTY.—

24 ‘‘(1) PROCEDURE.—The provisions of section

25 1128A (other than subsections (a), (b), (f), (h), (i)
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1 (other than paragraph (7)), and (m) and the first

2 sentence of subsection (c)) shall apply to civil money

3 penalties imposed under subsection (d) in the same

4 manner as the provisions apply to a penalty or pro5 ceeding under section 1128A(a).

6 ‘‘(2) COMPROMISE.—Penalties imposed against

7 a person under subsection (d) may be compromised

8 by the Commissioner or the Secretary (as applica9 ble).

10 ‘‘(3) VENUE.—Penalties imposed against a per11 son under subsection (d) may be recovered in a civil

12 action in the name of the United States brought in

13 the district court of the United States for the dis14 trict in which the violation occurred or where the

15 person resides, has its principal office, or may be

16 found as determined by the Commissioner or the

17 Secretary (as applicable).

18 ‘‘(4) DEDUCTION OF PENALTY FROM BENE19 FITS.—The amount of a penalty imposed under this

20 section may be deducted from any sum then or later

21 owing by the United States to the person against

22 whom the penalty has been imposed.

23 ‘‘(f) USE OF PENALTY AMOUNTS RECOVERED.—

24 ‘‘(1) COSTS OF THE OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR

25 GENERAL.—Amounts recovered under this section
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1 shall be made available to the Commissioner and the

2 Secretary (as applicable) to reimburse costs of the

3 applicable Office of the Inspector General related to

4 the enforcement of this section.

5 ‘‘(2) EXCESS AMOUNTS.—Amounts recovered

6 under this section, in excess of the amounts needed

7 to reimburse the Commissioner and the Secretary

8 under paragraph (1), shall be deposited as miscella9 neous receipts of the Treasury of the United States.

10 ‘‘(g) ENFORCEMENT.—The provisions of this section

11 may be enforced through the Office of the Inspector Gen12 eral of the Social Security Administration or the Office

13 of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and

14 Human Services (as appropriate).’’.

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec16 tions for part A of title XI of the Social Security Act is

17 amended by inserting after the item relating to section

18 1140 the following:

‘‘Sec. 1140A. Prohibition of charging for services or products that

are provided without charge by the Social Security

Administration or the Department of Health and

Human Services and prohibition of sale, transfer,

or use of certain information.’’.

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