I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2982 
To amend title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996 to restore Medicaid coverage for citizens 
of the Freely Associated States lawfully residing in the United States 
under the Compacts of Free Association between the Government of 
the United States and the Governments of the Federated States of 
Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of 
Palau. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 21, 2017 
Ms. HANABUSA (for herself, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. MICHELLE 
LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Ms. GABBARD, and Mr. ELLISON) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work 
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to restore Med-
icaid coverage for citizens of the Freely Associated States 
lawfully residing in the United States under the Com-
pacts of Free Association between the Government of 
the United States and the Governments of the Federated 
States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Is-
lands, and the Republic of Palau. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Covering our FAS Al-
lies Act’’. 
SEC. 2. MEDICAID COVERAGE FOR CITIZENS OF FREELY AS-
SOCIATED STATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(b)(2) of the Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 
of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612(b)(2)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(G) MEDICAID EXCEPTION FOR CITIZENS 
OF FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—With respect 
to eligibility for benefits for the designated Fed-
eral program defined in paragraph (3)(C) (re-
lating to the Medicaid program), section 401(a) 
and paragraph (1) shall not apply to any indi-
vidual who lawfully resides in 1 of the 50 States 
or the District of Columbia in accordance with 
the Compacts of Free Association between the 
Government of the United States and the Gov-
ernments of the Federated States of Micro-
nesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and 
the Republic of Palau and shall not apply, at 
the option of the Governor of Puerto Rico, the 
Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana 
Islands, or American Samoa as communicated 
to the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
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‘‘(8) an individual who lawfully resides in the 
United States in accordance with a Compact of Free 
Association referred to in section 402(b)(2)(G), but 
only with respect to the designated Federal program 
defined in section 402(b)(3)(C) (relating to the Med-
icaid program).’’. 
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1108 of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1308) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (f), in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘subsection (g)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘subsections (g) and (h)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) Expenditures for medical assistance provided to 
an individual described in section 431(b)(8) of the Per-
sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation 
Act of 1996 shall not be taken into account for purposes 
of applying payment limits under subsections (f) and 
(g).’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to benefits for items and services 
furnished on or after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
Æ 
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