106-31 January 22, 2001
President Signs H.R. 4577/P.L. 106-554, The Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2001On December 21, 2000, the
President signed into law H.R. 4577 (Public Law 106-554), the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001. The law is comprised of
several appropriations measures including the Departments of Labor,
Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 2001 which funds, among other activities, the
operations of the Social Security Administration.
Below are descriptions of SSA program-related provisions
contained in the Act.
SSI and Special Veteran Provisions in Labor, HHS, and Education
and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill (H.R. 5656)
Title V-Related Agencies-Social Security Administration, Title
VI-Assets for Independence
State Supplementary Payment Remittance (Section 515)
- Changes the effective date of the provision in the "Ticket to
Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999" (P.L. 106-170)
regarding State supplementary remittances from "for months after
September 2009" to "for months beginning after September 2001."
The provision requires that a State, which has entered into an
agreement with the Commissioner for Federal administration of the
State's supplementary payments, to remit payments and fees no
later than the business day preceding the SSI payment date.
Authority To Administer State Payments to Veterans Receiving
Title VIII Benefits (Section 518)
- Authorizes the Commissioner of Social Security to make State
payments to qualified veterans who are receiving Special Veterans
Benefits under title VIII of the Social Security Act.
- Provides that administrative fees and other provisions
(similar to those in State supplementary payment program under the
SSI program-except for the maintenance-of-effort requirement) also
would apply to the State recognition payments under title VIII.
The administrative fees would be credited to a special fund of the
U.S. Treasury to defray expenses in carrying out title VIII and
federally administered State recognition payments.
- The provision is effective upon enactment.
- SSI Treatment of Statutory Employees (Section 519)
- Provides that in the case of an individual who is defined as a
Social Security statutory employee, his or her net profit from
self-employment-rather than reported wages--would be counted in
determining SSI eligibility and benefit amount. There are four
categories of statutory employees-certain full-time life insurance
sales people, agent drivers or commission drivers, homeworkers and
full-time traveling or city salespeople. While these individuals
will continue to be treated as statutory employees for Social
Security purposes and self-employed for income tax purposes, they
now will be treated as self-employed for SSI purposes.
- The provision is effective upon enactment.
Individual Development Accounts (Section 610)
- Excludes for determining means-tested program eligibility and
benefit amount, funds (and accrued interest) in an individual
development account provided for under the "Assets for
Independence Act" (P.L. 105-285). (Previously only matching funds
were excluded. The funds deposited by the individual and interest
on those deposits could have been counted for SSI purposes.)
- The provision is effective upon enactment.
Treasury Department, the United States Postal Service, the
Executive Office of the President, and Certain Independent Agencies
Appropriations (H.R. 5658)
Title VI-General Provisions
Administrative Appeals Judges (Section 645)
- Sets the pay for administrative appeals judges not classified
above GS-15 at not less than the minimum rate of basic pay for
level AL-3 and not greater than the maximum rate of basic pay for
AL-3. Administrative appeals judges primarily review the decisions
of administrative law judges appointed under 5 U.S.C. 3105.
- This provision applies with respect to pay for service
performed on or after the first day of the first applicable pay
period beginning on or after the 120th day after enactment or if
earlier, the effective date of regulations prescribed by the
Office of Personnel Management.
Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and
Protection Act of 2000 (H.R. 5661)
Title I-Medicare Beneficiary Improvement, Title V-Provisions
relating to Parts A and B, Title VI-Provisions Relating to Part C,
and Title IX-Other Provisions
Waiver of 24-Month Waiting Period for Medicare Coverage of
Individuals Disabled with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) (Title
I, Subtitle B, Section 115)
- Amends section 226 of the Social Security Act to waive the
24-month Medicare waiting period for persons medically determined
to have ALS effective July 1, 2001.
Revisions to Medicare Appeals Process (Title V, Subtitle C,
Section 521)
- Amends section 1869 of the Social Security Act by specifying
the initial determination and appeal process for Medicare Part A
or Part B benefit claims.
- Establishes a 45-day period for the processing of initial
claims, a 30-day period for the processing of appeals at the
reconsideration level, a 90-day period for the processing of
appeals at the hearing level, and a 90-day period for the
processing of appeals to the Departmental Appeals Board of the
Department of Health and Human Services.
- Permits the party requesting the hearing to waive the 90-day
time limit at the hearing level.
- These provisions apply with respect to initial determinations
made on or after October 1, 2002.
Permitting Premium Reductions Additional Benefits Under
Medicare+Choice Plans (Title VI, Subtitle A, Section 606)
- Allows, beginning for plan year 2003, managed care providers
participating in the Medicare Plus Choice program to offer
beneficiaries, instead of options for additional services as
required under current law, a reduction in the Part B Medicare
premium. The reduction could take the form of a reduction in the
premium withheld from monthly Social Security benefits, a
retroactive adjustment in the amount withheld or a rebate.
Outreach on Availability of Medicare Cost-Sharing Assistance to
Eligible Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries (Title IX, Subtitle B,
Section 911)
- Adds section 1144 to the Social Security Act, which requires
that the Commissioner of Social Security:
- Identify Medicare beneficiaries-- Qualified Medicare
Beneficiaries (QMBs), Specified Low-Income Medicare (SLMBs), and
Qualified Individuals (QI's) -- who may be eligible for payment
of the cost of Medicare cost-sharing under the Medicaid program
(although not specified, presumably on the basis of the amount
of the beneficiary's title II benefit);
- Notify individuals who may be eligible of the availability
of cost sharing assistance under the Medicaid program that the
assistance is conditioned on meeting the eligibility
requirements, including an assets test, of individual States'
cost-sharing programs under Medicaid;
- Furnish each State agency administering a cost-sharing
program under Medicaid the name and address of beneficiaries who
live in that State and who are identified as potentially
eligible for cost-sharing; and
- Update information for the States each year, including
information on beneficiaries who may have become eligible for a
cost-sharing program during the year because of a reduction in
their title II benefits.
- The provision is effective one year after the date of
enactment.
- Requires that the Comptroller General study and report to the
Congress on the impact of section 1144 on the enrollment in
cost-sharing programs of individuals and make recommendations for
legislative changes the Comptroller deems appropriate. The report
is due 18 months after the Commissioner of Social Security first
conducts outreach under the provision.
Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 (H.R. 5662)
Title III-Subtitle A-Administrative Provisions
Adjustments for Consumer Price Index Error (Section 308)
- Directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine
whether a technical error in the computation of the Consumer Price
Index for 1999 has or will result in a shortfall in payments to
beneficiaries of Federal benefits programs, including Social
Security and SSI payments and payments under title VIII of the
Social Security Act (Special Veterans Benefits) as compared to
payments that would have been made had the error not occurred.
- Requires the head of any agency administering Federal benefits
programs to make an initial determination as to whether, and the
extent to which, the error resulted in a shortfall to
beneficiaries; and submit a report, no later than 30 days after
enactment, to the Director of OMB and to each House of the
Congress describing the shortfall.
- Requires OMB, within 60 days after enactment, to direct that
payment or payments be made to compensate for any identified
shortfall.
- Provides that payments made as a result of this change in the
law shall be disregarded in determining income under title VIII of
the Social Security Act or any applicable means-tested program.
- Also requires the Director of OMB to submit to Congress by
April 1, 2001, a report on the activities undertaken by OMB in
accordance with this section.
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