House Bill 1817c1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.







    Florida House of Representatives - 2000             CS/HM 1817

        By the Committee on Corrections and Representatives Crady
    and Andrews





  1                          House Memorial

  2         A memorial to the Congress of the United

  3         States, urging Congress to adopt legislation to

  4         end the practice of denying old-age and

  5         survivors insurance benefit payments and

  6         Medicare and Medicaid benefits to prisoners and

  7         certain other individuals confined at public

  8         expense and to provide for payment of such

  9         benefits directly to the agencies responsible

10         for the housing and medical care of such

11         individuals.

12

13         WHEREAS, the Federal Government has prohibited monthly

14  old-age and survivors insurance benefit payments and Medicaid

15  benefits as well as requiring burdensome documentation and

16  collection procedures before reimbursement can be made for

17  Medicare benefits to any individual currently confined in a

18  jail, prison, or other penal institution or correctional

19  facility for conviction of an offense punishable by

20  imprisonment for more than one year, or to any individual who

21  is confined by a court order in an institution at public

22  expense as a result of a finding of incompetency, insanity, or

23  mental defect in connection with an offense punishable by

24  imprisonment for more than one year, and

25         WHEREAS, the State of Florida recognizes the fact that

26  daily subsistence costs and medical treatment costs for

27  incarcerated offenders in the correctional system are a great

28  burden to the taxpayers of the state, and consequently the

29  state currently directs certain prisoners to pay for all or a

30  fair portion of their daily subsistence and certain medical

31  costs, and

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2000             CS/HM 1817

    180-438-00






  1         WHEREAS, the Federal Government has prohibited

  2  incarcerated individuals who have lawfully paid federal

  3  employment taxes from receiving benefits to which they are

  4  entitled, and

  5         WHEREAS, federal denial of such benefits forces states

  6  to fund housing and medical costs for these individuals who

  7  otherwise would be entitled to receive such benefits, and

  8         WHEREAS, this federal denial of the payment of old-age

  9  and survivors insurance benefit payments and Medicare and

10  Medicaid benefits is an erosion of the principle of states'

11  rights and the rights of individuals, the effect of which

12  forces states to spend increasing portions of their budgets on

13  correctional systems, and

14         WHEREAS, the State of Florida, along with other states,

15  would be better able to fulfill its budgetary obligations if

16  the Federal Government would allow such payments and benefits

17  to be made directly to the agencies responsible for the

18  housing and medical care of such individuals, and

19         WHEREAS, the denial by the Federal Government of the

20  payment of old-age and survivors insurance benefit payments

21  and Medicaid benefits to prisoners and other individuals who

22  receive housing and medical care in publicly funded

23  institutions is a Congressional infringement upon the rights

24  to which all citizens are entitled, and

25         WHEREAS, the payment of old-age and survivors insurance

26  benefit payments and Medicaid benefits owed to prisoners and

27  other individuals who receive housing and medical care in

28  publicly funded institutions directly to the agencies

29  responsible for the housing and medical care of such

30  individuals would aid significantly in decreasing state

31

                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2000             CS/HM 1817

    180-438-00






  1  correctional system budget expenditures and lessen a burden on

  2  the taxpayers of the state, NOW, THEREFORE,

  3

  4  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

  5

  6         That the Congress of the United States is requested to

  7  adopt legislation to end the practice of denying old-age and

  8  survivors insurance benefit payments and Medicaid benefits and

  9  repeal the burdensome requirements for reimbursement for

10  Medicare to prisoners and certain other individuals who

11  receive housing and medical care in publicly funded

12  institutions and to provide for payment of such benefits

13  directly to the agencies responsible for the housing and

14  medical care of such individuals.

15         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this memorial be dispatched

16  to the President of the United States, the President of the

17  United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House

18  of Representatives, and to each member of the Florida

19  delegation to the United States Congress.

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

                                  3