Title: SNAP Standard Medical Expense Deduction Act of 2017
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
SNAP Standard Medical Expense Deduction Act of 2017
This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to allow households containing an elderly or disabled member to use a standard medical expense deduction for calculating income to apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) benefits.
If the amount of actual costs of allowable medical expenses incurred by the elderly or disabled member for a month, exclusive of special diets, is equal to or greater than $35, the standard medical deduction for each month is: (1) $140 for FY2018, and (2) the preceding year's amount with a specified adjustment for inflation for FY2019 and each subsequent year. If the monthly costs are greater than the sum of the standard medical deduction and $35, the household may deduct the actual costs.
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) may approve a standard medical deduction that is higher than the amount required by this bill.
USDA must submit specified studies and reports to Congress regarding: (1) state performance in enrolling disabled and elderly individuals in SNAP and specified Medicare programs, (2) disability and food insecurity, and (3) the effectiveness of the standard medical deduction.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1707 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1707

 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide for a standard 
 medical expense deduction under the supplemental nutrition assistance 
                    program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 2, 2017

Mrs. Gillibrand introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide for a standard 
 medical expense deduction under the supplemental nutrition assistance 
                    program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``SNAP Standard Medical Expense 
Deduction Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DEDUCTION.

    Section 5(e)(5) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2014(e)(5)) is amended--
            (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ``Excess 
        medical'' and inserting ``Medical'';
            (2) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(A) Standard medical deduction.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), 
                        a household containing an elderly or disabled 
                        member shall be entitled, with respect to 
                        expenses other than expenses paid on behalf of 
                        the household by a third party--
                                    ``(I) if the amount of actual costs 
                                of allowable medical expenses incurred 
                                by the elderly or disabled member for a 
                                month, exclusive of special diets, is 
                                equal to or greater than $35, to a 
                                standard medical deduction for each 
                                month of an amount equal to--
                                            ``(aa) for fiscal year 
                                        2018, $140; and
                                            ``(bb) for fiscal year 2019 
                                        and each subsequent fiscal 
                                        year, the applicable amount 
                                        during the preceding fiscal 
                                        year, as adjusted to reflect 
                                        changes for the 12-month period 
                                        ending the preceding June 30 in 
                                        the Consumer Price Index for 
                                        All Urban Consumers: Medical 
                                        Care published by the Bureau of 
                                        Labor Statistics of the 
                                        Department of Labor; or
                                    ``(II) if the amount of actual 
                                costs of allowable medical expenses 
                                incurred by the elderly or disabled 
                                member for a month, exclusive of 
                                special diets, is greater than the sum 
                                of the amount of that standard medical 
                                deduction and $35, to a deduction equal 
                                to the amount of those actual costs.
                            ``(ii) Effect on state authority to adjust 
                        standard medical deduction.--Nothing in this 
                        subparagraph precludes--
                                    ``(I) a State that has an approved 
                                standard medical deduction as of the 
                                date of enactment of the SNAP Standard 
                                Medical Expense Deduction Act of 2017 
                                in an amount that is greater than the 
                                amount of the standard medical 
                                deduction described in item (aa) or 
                                (bb) of clause (i)(I), as applicable, 
                                from continuing in effect that standard 
                                medical deduction; or
                                    ``(II) the Secretary from approving 
                                a standard medical deduction in an 
                                amount that is greater than the amount 
                                of the standard medical deduction 
                                described in item (aa) or (bb) of 
                                clause (i)(I), as applicable.''; and
            (3) in subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) in the subparagraph heading, by inserting 
                ``actual costs'' before ``deduction''; and
                    (B) in clause (i), by striking ``excess medical 
                expense deduction'' and inserting ``actual costs 
                deduction described in clause (i)(II) of that 
                subparagraph''.

SEC. 3. REPORTS AND STUDIES.

    (a) State Performance on Enrolling Eligible Seniors and Individuals 
With Disabilities in Low-Income Health and Nutrition Benefits.--Section 
17 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2026) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(m) State Performance on Enrolling Eligible Seniors and 
Individuals With Disabilities in Low-Income Health and Nutrition 
Benefits.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Covered program.--The term `covered program' 
                means--
                            ``(i) the supplemental nutrition assistance 
                        program;
                            ``(ii) the Medicare part D low-income 
                        subsidy under section 1860D-14 of the Social 
                        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-114); and
                            ``(iii) the Medicare Savings Program, as 
                        defined in section 1144(c)(7) of the Social 
                        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-14(c)(7)).
                    ``(B) Disabled individual.--The term `disabled 
                individual' means a member of a household described in 
                any of paragraphs (2) through (7) of section 3(j).
                    ``(C) Elderly individual.--The term `elderly 
                individual' means a member of a household who is not 
                less than 60 years old.
            ``(2) Reports.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than June 30, 2018, 
                and June 30 of each year thereafter, the Secretary, in 
                collaboration with the Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services and the Commissioner of Social Security, shall 
                submit to the committees described in subparagraph (B) 
                a report that assesses the effectiveness of each State 
                in enrolling eligible elderly individuals and disabled 
                individuals in each covered program.
                    ``(B) Committees described.--The committees 
                referred to in subparagraph (A) are--
                            ``(i) of the House of Representatives--
                                    ``(I) the Committee on Agriculture;
                                    ``(II) the Committee on Ways and 
                                Means; and
                                    ``(III) the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce; and
                            ``(ii) of the Senate--
                                    ``(I) the Committee on Agriculture, 
                                Nutrition, and Forestry; and
                                    ``(II) the Committee on Finance.
            ``(3) Specific measures.--The report submitted under 
        paragraph (2)(A) shall include, with respect to the previous 
        fiscal year--
                    ``(A) an estimate of the number of elderly 
                individuals and the number of disabled individuals, by 
                State, who were eligible for each covered program;
                    ``(B) an estimate of the number of elderly 
                individuals and the number of disabled individuals, by 
                State, who participated in each covered program;
                    ``(C) an estimate of the number of elderly 
                individuals and the number of disabled individuals who 
                were eligible for all 3 covered programs;
                    ``(D) an estimate of the number of elderly 
                individuals and the number of disabled individuals who 
                participated in all 3 of the covered programs; and
                    ``(E) an estimate of--
                            ``(i) the number of individuals whose 
                        eligibility for each covered program was 
                        initiated through an application with the 
                        Social Security Administration;
                            ``(ii) the number of individuals described 
                        in clause (i) who qualified for each covered 
                        program; and
                            ``(iii) the number of individuals described 
                        in clause (i) who participated in each covered 
                        program.
            ``(4) Performance innovations.--The report submitted under 
        paragraph (2)(A) shall include a description of best practices 
        of one or more States with the best performances for that 
        fiscal year, or the most improved performances from the 
        previous fiscal year, under each of the measures described in 
        paragraph (3).''.
    (b) Studies on Disability and Food Insecurity.--Section 17 of the 
Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2026) (as amended by 
subsection (a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(n) Studies on Disability and Food Insecurity.--
            ``(1) Definition of disabled individual.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In this subsection, the term 
                `disabled individual' means a member of a household 
                described in any of paragraphs (2) through (7) of 
                section 3(j).
                    ``(B) Inclusions.--In this subsection, the term 
                `disabled individual' includes a member of a household 
                who, as determined by the Secretary--
                            ``(i) is not considered disabled under 
                        subparagraph (A); but
                            ``(ii) has a physical, mental, or sensory 
                        condition that limits the daily activities of 
                        the individual.
            ``(2) Studies.--The Secretary--
                    ``(A) shall carry out a study--
                            ``(i) on the relationship between 
                        disability and food insecurity for disabled 
                        individuals;
                            ``(ii) on the effectiveness of Federal food 
                        assistance programs in responding to the causes 
                        of food insecurity in households with disabled 
                        individuals; and
                            ``(iii) making recommendations for how 
                        Federal food assistance programs could be 
                        improved to better meet the needs of households 
                        with disabled individuals; and
                    ``(B) in collaboration with the Civil Rights 
                Division of the Department of Justice, shall carry out 
                a study on the best practices of States in complying 
                with--
                            ``(i) section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 
                        of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) and the Americans with 
                        Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 
                        seq.) regarding practices to avoid 
                        discrimination on the basis of disability, such 
                        as through provision of reasonable 
                        accommodations, in carrying out Federal food 
                        assistance programs; and
                            ``(ii) section 508 of the Rehabilitation 
                        Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d) regarding the 
                        comprehensive use of adaptive technologies for 
                        disabled individuals in accessing Federal food 
                        assistance programs.
            ``(3) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date on 
        which the studies are completed under paragraph (2), the 
        Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the 
        House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, 
        Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report describing the 
        results of the studies, including such recommendations as the 
        Secretary considers appropriate.''.
    (c) Report on Standard Medical Deduction.--Section 17 of the Food 
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2026) (as amended by subsection 
(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(o) Report on Standard Medical Deduction.--Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of the SNAP Standard Medical Expense 
Deduction Act of 2017, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report that--
            ``(1) identifies which States were most effective at 
        increasing the use by individuals in the State of the standard 
        medical deduction authorized under section 5(e)(5)(A) during 
        the period covered by the report; and
            ``(2) provides an assessment of which factors were 
        important in increasing the use of the standard medical 
        deduction by individuals in the States identified under 
        paragraph (1).''.
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