Tax Records Sought to Aid Drug Benefits
Posted on: Tuesday, 21 November 2006, 21:00 CST
By KEVIN FREKING
WASHINGTON - Tax records would go a long way toward helping the federal government find the elderly and the disabled eligible for extra financial aid with the new drug benefit. But there's a catch: The IRS can't share those records.
The inspector general for the Health and Human Services Department says that legislation is needed to allow tax records to be used for that purpose.
The subsidy dramatically lowers the costs of the drug benefit for Medicare enrollees. It's aimed at those with an income of less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level - $14,700 for an individual and $19,800 for a married couple. Also, assets need to be below $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for couples.
So far, only about 2 million beneficiaries have been approved for the subsidy, but it's believed that about 6.1 million are eligible. Still, those numbers are uncertain without the tax records, the inspector general said.
"Without knowing the true population of potentially eligible beneficiaries, it is difficult to judge the success of current outreach and enrollment efforts," HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson wrote in a letter to Leslie V. Norwalk, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The letter was released Tuesday.
Levinson said tax records are used to help identify cases when another insurer, not Medicare, should have paid for a service, so there is precedent for the sharing of tax records. However, it has to be authorized by Congress.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said any change in rules regarding disclosure of tax information must be considered carefully, but he said he looked forward to exploring ideas that would help beneficiaries.
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On the Net:
HHS Office of Inspector General: http://www.oig.hhs.gov/w-new.html
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
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