SB294 Alabama 2019 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Arthur Orr Senator

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2019

Title

Public assistance, certain eligibility requirements for TANF and SNAP revised, fraud detection measures required

Description

This bill would further provide for procedures for eligibility verification and limitations for various public assistance programs administered by the Department of Human Resources and the Medicaid Agency.

This bill would preclude the department from granting categorical eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and would require individuals to cooperate with the Child Support Enforcement Division in order to be eligible for SNAP benefits.

This bill would provide a lifetime limit of 36 months for temporary cash payments under the state Family Assistance Program administering the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF).

This bill would require the Department of Human Resources to utilize best efforts to identify purchases at points of sale outside this state using cash benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF) or SNAP benefits and to establish a benchmark number of out-of-state transactions using TANF benefits that will automatically generate review of the recipient's residency status by the department, as well as review of frequent or large even-dollar purchases by recipients.

This bill would require the Department of Human Resources to monitor all requests for replacement EBT cards, and upon the fourth request, require an office visit by the recipient to alert the recipient that his or her account would be monitored for potential suspicious activity.

This bill would provide for the suspension of cash payments under the TANF program when a recipient fails to cooperate with an ongoing fraud investigation and would require the department to maintain sufficient fraud investigative staff.

This bill would also require the Medicaid Agency and the Department of Human Resources to implement certain eligibility and fraud detection measures for SNAP and Medicaid benefits, would require the referral of certain fraud cases to the district attorney; and would require the agency and the department to report certain information relating to fraud to the Legislature.

This bill would also require the agency and the department to implement certain practices relating to semi-annual eligibility verification for SNAP and Medicaid benefits and would establish procedures for the dispute of findings by the department or the agency.

This bill would also establish work requirements for eligibility to participate in Medicaid under certain conditions.

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Subjects

Public Assistance