Fairness for Seniors and People with Disabilities During COVID–19 Act of 2020

To provide protections to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries relating to extra payments due to the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fairness for Seniors and People with Disabilities During COVID–19 Act of 2020 2. Social Security beneficiary protections regarding incorrect payments during COVID–19 (a) No liability or recovery with respect to certain incorrect payments (1) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of title II, title VIII, title XI, or title XVI of the Social Security Act, in the case of any payment under title II, title VIII, or title XVI of such Act of more than the correct amount for any month during the period beginning on March 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2020 (other than a payment described in paragraph (2)), no person, estate, State, or organization shall be liable for the repayment of the amount of such payment in excess of the correct amount and the Commissioner of Social Security shall not seek recovery of benefits under section 204, 808, 1147, or 1631(b) of such Act from any person, estate, State, or organization. (2) Amounts subject to liability and recovery (A) In general A payment described in this paragraph is a payment of more than the correct amount resulting from— (i) a conviction for an offense under section 208(a), 811, or 1632(a) of the Social Security Act; (ii) a redetermination of the entitlement of an individual to benefits made under section 205(u) or 1631(e)(7) of such Act when there is reason to believe that an incorrect or incomplete statement that is material to determining such entitlement is knowingly made or that information that is material to the determination is knowingly concealed; or (iii) a determination that a representative payee misused benefits made under section 205(j), 807, or 1631(a)(2) of such Act. (B) Limitation For purposes of paragraph (1), this paragraph shall not apply with respect to any payment of more than the correct amount resulting from an offense or determination that occurred before March 1, 2020. (b) Notifications; suspension of recovery upon request (1) Recovery by adjustment of benefits (A) In general Not later than October 31, 2020, the Commissioner of Social Security shall— (i) notify each covered individual of the opportunity to request that the adjustment of benefits described in subparagraph (B) be reduced or suspended during the period described in subsection (a)(1); and (ii) reduce or suspend (as requested) such adjustment immediately upon receipt of the request. (B) Covered individual In this paragraph, the term covered individual (2) Recovery by installment agreements Not later than October 31, 2020, the Commissioner of Social Security shall notify each party owing a debt to the Social Security Administration (other than a debt arising from a payment described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (a)(2)) with respect to which an installment agreement is in effect of the opportunity to request that the installment payments under such agreement be suspended during the period described in subsection (a)(1), and shall suspend such payments upon request. The Commissioner shall deem a debt for which such a suspension has been made to be not delinquent during such period. (c) Report Not later than November 30, 2020, the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit a report to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives describing the Commissioner’s activities under this section, including a planned timeframe for the resumption of overpayment processing and collection, and any barriers or obstacles to that timeframe. (d) Deemed eligibility for SSI for purposes of determining Medicaid eligibility (1) In general Notwithstanding any provision of title XVI or title XIX of the Social Security Act (or section 212(a) of Public Law 93–66 Public Law 93–66 (2) Covered supplemental payment For purposes of this subsection, a covered supplemental payment is— (A) a payment of a supplemental security income benefit under title XVI of the Social Security Act; or (B) a State supplementary payment of the type referred to in section 1616(a) of such Act or a payment of the type described in section 212(a) of Public Law 93–66

Summary: Fairness for Seniors and People with Disabilities During COVID-19 Act of 2020 This bill restricts the recovery by the Social Security Administration (SSA) of certain overpayments of benefits made between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. The bill also specifies that an individual who received Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or similar payments from a state, for any month during that period shall not be deemed ineligible for Medicaid coverage for that month on the basis that the individual is later determined to be ineligible for SSI or similar payments. Specifically, the SSA shall not recover any overpayments of Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance benefits, SSI benefits, or benefits for certain World War II veterans made during this period, unless the overpayments resulted from fraud or the misuse of benefits by a representative payee. For actions underway to recover overpayments, including those initiated before March 2020, the SSA must also notify individuals of their opportunity to request a reduction or suspension of adjustments to their benefits or a suspension of certain installment payments during the specified period. Additionally, the SSA must report on the time frame for resuming overpayment processing and collection activities. Beginning in March 2020, the SSA has operated under modified work processes in response to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2020) emergency, including the suspension of certain procedures for identifying changes to eligibility status and adjusting benefits to account for them. However, in August 2020, the SSA issued an interim final rule concerning the resumption of these procedures, which included a simplified waiver process for beneficiaries who incurred an overpayment between March 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020.