SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Verify First Act’’. 
SEC. 2. VERIFICATION OF STATUS IN UNITED STATES AS 
CONDITION OF RECEIVING ADVANCE PAY-
MENT OF HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUM TAX 
CREDIT. 
(a) APPLICATION TO CURRENT HEALTH INSURANCE 
PREMIUM TAX CREDIT.—Section 36B of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986, as in effect for months beginning 
before January 1, 2020, is amended by redesignating sub-
section (g) as subsection (h) and by inserting after sub-
section (f) the following new subsection: 
‘‘(g) VERIFICATION OF STATUS IN UNITED STATES 
FOR ADVANCE PAYMENT.—No advance payment of the 
credit allowed under this section with respect to any pre-
mium under subsection (b)(2)(A) with respect to any indi-
vidual shall be made under section 1412 of the Patient 
Protection and Affordable Care Act unless the Secretary 
has received confirmation from the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services that the Commissioner of Social Se-
curity or the Secretary of Homeland Security has verified 
under section 1411(c)(2) of such Act the individual’s sta-
tus as a citizen or national of the United States or an 
alien lawfully present in the United States using a process 
that includes the appropriate use of information related 
to citizenship or immigration status, such as social secu-
rity account numbers (but not individual taxpayer identi-
fication numbers).’’. 
(b) APPLICATION TO NEW HEALTH INSURANCE PRE-
MIUM TAX CREDIT.—Section 36B of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986, as amended by the American Health Care 
Act of 2017 and in effect for months beginning after De-
cember 31, 2019, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(h) VERIFICATION OF STATUS IN UNITED STATES 
FOR ADVANCE PAYMENT.—No advance payment of the 
credit allowed under this section with respect to any 
amount under subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection 
(b)(1) with respect to any individual shall be made under 
section 1412 of the Patient Protection and Affordable 
Care Act unless the Secretary has received confirmation 
from the Secretary of Health and Human Services that 
the Commissioner of Social Security or the Secretary of 
Homeland Security has verified under section 1411(c)(2) 
of such Act the individual’s status as a citizen or national 
of the United States or a qualified alien (within the mean-
ing of section 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work 
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641)) 
using a process that includes the appropriate use of infor-
mation related to citizenship or immigration status, such
as social security account numbers (but not individual tax-
payer identification numbers).’’. 
(c) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT
ON
CONTINUOUS 
HEALTH
INSURANCE
COVERAGE
PROVISION.—Section 
2710A(b)(1) of the Public Health Service Act, as added 
by section 133 of the American Health Care Act of 2017, 
is amended by adding after subparagraph (C) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘In the case of an individual who applies for ad-
vance payment of a credit under section 1412 of the 
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and for 
whom a determination of eligibility for such advance 
payment is delayed by reason of the requirement for 
verification of the individual’s status in the United 
States under section 1411(c)(2) of such Act, the pe-
riod of days beginning with the date of application 
for advance payment and ending with the date of 
such verification shall not be taken into account in 
applying subparagraph (B). The Secretary shall es-
tablish a procedure by which information relating to 
this period is provided to the individual.’’. 
(d) DELAY PERMITTED IN COVERAGE DATE IN CASE 
OF DELAY IN VERIFICATION OF STATUS FOR INDIVID-
UALS APPLYING FOR ADVANCE PAYMENT OF CREDIT.—
Section 1411(e) of the Patient Protection and Affordable 
Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18081(e)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by inserting after ‘‘appli-
cant’s eligibility’’ the following: ‘‘(other than eligi-
bility for advance payment of a credit under section 
1412)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(5) DELAY PERMITTED IN COVERAGE DATE IN 
CASE OF DELAY IN VERIFICATION OF STATUS FOR 
INDIVIDUALS APPLYING FOR ADVANCE PAYMENT OF 
CREDIT.—In the case of an individual whose eligi-
bility for advance payments is delayed by reason of 
the requirement for verification under subsection 
(c)(2), if, for coverage to be effective as of the date 
requested in the individual’s application for enroll-
ment, the individual would (but for this paragraph) 
be required to pay 2 or more months of retroactive 
premiums, the individual shall be provided the op-
tion to elect to postpone the effective date of cov-
erage to the date that is not more than 1 month 
later than the date requested in the individual’s ap-
plication for enrollment.’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATES.—
(1) APPLICATION TO CURRENT HEALTH INSUR-
ANCE
PREMIUM
TAX
CREDIT.—The amendment 
made by subsection (a) is contingent upon the enact-
ment of the American Health Care Act of 2017 and 
shall apply (if at all) to months beginning after De-
cember 31, 2017. 
(2) APPLICATION TO NEW HEALTH INSURANCE 
PREMIUM TAX CREDIT.—The amendment made by 
subsection (b) is contingent upon the enactment of 
the American Health Care Act of 2017 and shall 
apply (if at all) to months beginning after December 
31, 2019, in taxable years ending after such date. 
(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT ON CONTINUOUS 
HEALTH
INSURANCE
COVERAGE
PROVISION.—The 
amendment made by subsection (c) is contingent 
upon the enactment of the American Health Care 
Act of 2017 and shall take effect (if at all) as if in-
cluded in such Act. 
(4) FLEXIBILITY IN COVERAGE DATE IN CASE 
OF
DELAY
IN
VERIFICATION
OF
STATUS.—The 
amendment made by subsection (d) is contingent 
upon the enactment of the American Health Care 
Act of 2017 and shall apply (if at all) to applications