Title: Fairness for Seniors and People with Disabilities During COVID–19 Act of 2020
Policy area: Social Welfare

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.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4830 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4830

  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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             October 21 (legislative day, October 19), 2020

   Mr. Brown (for himself, Mr. Casey, and Mr. Wyden) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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.

    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 ``Fairness for Seniors and People with 
Disabilities During COVID-19 Act of 2020''.

SEC. 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'' means an individual with 
                respect to whom the recovery of any payment under title 
                II, title VIII, or title XVI of the Social Security Act 
                of more than the correct amount (other than a payment 
                described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (a)(2)) is 
                in effect, by adjustment of the individual's monthly 
                benefits or underpayments, for any month during the 
                period described in subsection (a)(1).
            (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), each individual who receives a covered 
        supplemental payment for any month during the period described 
        in subsection (a)(1) and is subsequently determined to be 
        ineligible for such payment shall be deemed to be a recipient 
        of supplemental security income benefits under title XVI, State 
        supplementary benefits of the type referred to in section 
        1616(a) of such Act, or payments of the type described in 
        section 212(a) of Public Law 93-66, as the case may be, for 
        such month for purposes of determining the individual's 
        eligibility for medical assistance under a State plan approved 
        under title XIX of the Social Security Act (or a waiver of such 
        plan).
            (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.
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