CHAPTER 308
HB 1566-FN – FINAL VERSION
10Feb2010… 0418h
04/21/10 1343s
02Jun2010… 2219cofc
02Jun2010… 2367eba
2010 SESSION
05/01
HOUSE BILL 1566-FN
AN ACT requiring financial institutions to disclose certain information regarding recipients of medical assistance for the aged, blind, and disabled through an electronic asset verification system.
SPONSORS: Rep. Cebrowski, Hills 18; Rep. Donovan, Sull 4; Rep. C. McMahon, Rock 4; Rep. Nevins, Rock 15
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
This bill authorizes the department of health and human services to establish an electronic asset verification system to obtain financial records in order to verify eligibility for medical assistance for the aged, blind, and disabled.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10Feb2010… 0418h
04/21/10 1343s
02Jun2010… 2219cofc
02Jun2010… 2367eba
10-2026
05/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT requiring financial institutions to disclose certain information regarding recipients of medical assistance for the aged, blind, and disabled through an electronic asset verification system.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
308:1 Public Assistance; Financial Disclosure by Applicants and Recipients. RSA 167:4-a, II and III are repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
II. The commissioner is hereby authorized to request and receive from any bank, trust company, savings and loan association, credit union, or other financial institution doing business in this state the financial records of any applicant for or recipient of medical assistance whose eligibility for medical assistance is based upon the applicant’s or recipient’s age, blindness, or disability. The institution shall furnish the information specified in paragraph VI within 15 days of the department’s request.
III. The department or any financial institution that discloses financial records under this section shall not be subject to civil liability or criminal prosecution which is based upon its disclosure under this section, or for any other action taken in good faith to comply with the requirements of this section.
308:2 New Paragraphs; Confidentiality of Information. Amend RSA 167:4-a by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraphs:
V. Any records established or information collected pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be made available only to the commissioner and his or her authorized designee, and the applicant or recipient, and his or her authorized representative as authorized by the rules of the department. Such records and information shall be available and used only for purposes directly connected with the determination and verification of eligibility for medical assistance for applicants and recipients whose eligibility for medical assistance is based upon the applicant’s or recipient’s age, blindness, or disability. The records and information made available to the applicant or recipient, or his or her authorized representative shall not include information provided to the department that is prohibited from release by federal law, state statute, state case law, or by contract or agreement between the department and another entity if such contract or agreement prohibits release of such information.
VI. The department, in coordination with financial institutions doing business in the state, may develop and operate a data match system, using automated data exchanges to the maximum extent feasible, in which each financial institution is required to provide, when requested by the department and subject to reasonable reimbursement as set forth in Public Law 110-252, up to 5 years of information regarding the name, record address, social security number or other taxpayer identification number, monthly account balance, and other identifying information for each applicant or recipient who maintains an account at the financial institution, as identified by the department by name and social security number or other taxpayer identification number. The system shall be based on a cost-effective search algorithm and shall include means to assure compliance with the provisions of this section. The department shall provide a status report regarding the implementation of the data match system to the oversight committee on health and human services, established in RSA 126-A:13, on or before November 1, 2010, and annually thereafter, until implementation has been fully completed. The report shall summarize the department’s findings and recommendations to date, including savings generated by both incremental asset identification and the time and labor associated with the process, the feedback and reactions of applicants and recipients, any barriers to implementation, anticipated future actions, and the department’s assessment of the relative success of the project.
VII. In this section, “financial institution,” except as otherwise provided in 12 U.S.C. section 3414, means any office of a bank, savings bank, card issuer as defined in 15 U.S.C. section 1602(n), industrial loan company, trust company, savings association, building and loan, or homestead association, including cooperative banks, credit union, or consumer finance institution, located in any state or territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, or the Virgin Islands.
308:3 Right to Privacy; Exceptions. Amend RSA 359-C:11, IV to read as follows:
IV. Subject to the limitations of RSA 359-C:6, the examination by or disclosure to the commissioner of the department of health and human services of the financial records of a person upon a request by the commissioner pursuant to RSA 161-C:3-a, I for the purpose of establishing, modifying, or enforcing an obligation to pay child support against such person or pursuant to RSA 167:4-a for purposes directly connected with the determination and verification of eligibility for medical assistance for applicants and recipients whose eligibility for medical assistance is based upon the applicant’s or recipient’s age, blindness, or disability.
308:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Approved: July 13, 2010
Effective Date: September 11, 2010