The Safeguarding Medicaid Act (S. 1082)

• •The bill mandates an asset verification program for all Medicaid applicants and recipients in all states and territories.
• •States must implement an electronic integrated asset verification program within one year of enactment.
• •A resources eligibility test will be applied to all individuals seeking medical assistance, with limits tied to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) standards.
• •The bill explicitly excludes pregnant women, postpartum women, and children under 19 from these new resource test requirements.
• •The Secretary of Health and Human Services may grant a one-year delay to states demonstrating economic hardship.
• •The federal government must create a tracking system to measure Medicaid savings resulting from these asset checks within two years.
• •States are required to submit triennial reports on eligibility determinations, renewals, and asset check outcomes.
• •The Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to mandate corrective action plans for states found to be out of compliance with federal eligibility requirements.
• •The asset verification requirements take effect one year after enactment; the resource eligibility test requirements take effect two years after enactment.

If passed, this bill would require all Medicaid applicants and current recipients to undergo a financial resource test, potentially changing eligibility criteria for millions of Americans and requiring states to implement new electronic asset-tracking systems.

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.