Iowa Code 239.5 – Verification and authentication systems — public assistance programs
Current as of: 2024 | Check for updates
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1. No later than July 1, 2025, the department shall redesign an existing system; establish a new computerized income, asset, and identity eligibility verification system; or contract with a third-party vendor to provide for identity verification, identity authentication, asset verification, and dual enrollment prevention in order to deter waste, fraud, and abuse in each public assistance program administered by the department.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 239.5
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Consumer: means any one of the following:a. See Iowa Code 216E.1
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Department: means the department of health and human services. See Iowa Code 249L.2
- Department: means the department of health and human services. See Iowa Code 239.1
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Public assistance: means the supplemental nutrition assistance program or SNAP, the Medicaid program or Medicaid as defined in section 249A. See Iowa Code 239.1
- Real-time eligibility system: means real-time electronic access to a system that allows verification of all applicable public assistance program eligibility information based on the most recent information available to the department through nonmodeled earned and unearned income, such as commercially available wage data. See Iowa Code 239.1
- Recipient: means an individual who is receiving public assistance benefits in the state. See Iowa Code 239.1
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
2. The department may contract with a third-party vendor to develop or provide a service for a real-time eligibility system that allows the department to verify or authenticate income, assets, and identity eligibility of applicants and recipients to prevent fraud, misrepresentation, and inadequate documentation when determining eligibility for public assistance programs. The system shall be accessed prior to determining eligibility, periodically between eligibility redeterminations, and during eligibility redeterminations and reviews. The department may also contract with a third-party vendor to provide information to facilitate reviews of recipient eligibility conducted by the department. Specifically, the department may contract with a third-party consumer reporting agency, as defined by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681a, for the purpose of obtaining real-time employment and income information.3. A contract entered into under this section shall provide, at a minimum, for all of the following:a. The establishment of the annual savings amount from utilization of the system or service, and a provision that the contract may be terminated contingent upon the savings not exceeding the total yearly cost to the state for utilization of the system or service.b. That the contract shall not preclude the department from continuing to conduct additional eligibility verification or authentication processes, to receive, review, or verify additional information related to the eligibility of an individual, or from contracting with a third-party vendor to provide additional eligibility authentication or verification information.4. The department shall seek federal approval as necessary to implement and administer this section.