Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program, 47837-47838 [2020-17207]

Agencies

• Social Security Administration

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 152 (Thursday, August 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47837-47838]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17207]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No. SSA-2019-0054]


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA).

ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as 
amended, this notice announces a new matching program with the 
Department of the Treasury--Internal Revenue Services (IRS). This 
computer matching agreement sets forth the terms, conditions, and 
safeguards under which IRS will disclose to SSA certain return 
information for the purpose of establishing the correct amount of 
Medicare Part B premium subsidy adjustments and Medicare Part D premium 
increases.

DATES: The deadline to submit comments on the proposed matching program 
is 30 days from the date of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register. The matching program will be applicable on October 1, 2020, 
or once a minimum of 30 days after publication of this notice has 
elapsed, whichever is later. The matching program will be in effect for 
a period of 18 months.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may comment on this notice by either 
telefaxing to (410) 966-0869, writing to Matthew Ramsey, Executive 
Director, Office of Privacy and Disclosure, Office of the General 
Counsel, Social Security Administration, G-401 WHR, 6401 Security 
Boulevard, Baltimore MD 21235-6401, or emailing [email protected]. 
All comments received will be available for public inspection by 
contacting Mr. Ramsey at this street address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Interested parties may submit general 
questions about the matching program to Andrea Huseth, Direcctor, 
Office of Privacy and Disclosure, Office of the General Counsel, Social 
Security Administration, G-401 WHR, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore 
MD 21235-6401, at Telephone: (410) 966-5855, or send an email to 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Authority: Sections 1839(i) and 1860D-13(a)(7) of the Social 
Security Act (Act). (42 U.S.C. 1395r(i) and 1395w-113(a)(7) (42 
U.S.C. 1395r(i) and 1395w-113(a)(7)), as enacted by section 811 of 
the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act 
of 2003 (MMA; Pub. L. 108-173) and section 3308 of the Affordable 
Care Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-148). one.

Matthew Ramsey,
Executive Director, Office of Privacy and Disclosure, Office of the 
General Counsel.

PARTICIPATING AGENCIES:
    SSA and IRS.

AUTHORITY FOR CONDUCTING THE MATCHING PROGRAM:
    The legal authority for disclosure under this agreement is section 
6103(1)(20) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC section 6103(1)(20)) 
authorizes IRS to disclose specified return information to SSA with 
respect to taxpayers whose Part B and/or prescription drug coverage 
insurance premium(s) may (according to IRS records) be subject to 
premium subsidy adjustment pursuant to section 1839(i) or premium 
increase pursuant to section 1860D-13(a)(7) of the Act for the purpose 
of establishing the amount of any such adjustment or increase or for 
resolving taxpayer appeals with respect to such adjustment or increase. 
The return information IRS will disclose, as specified in Article V, 
subsection E, of the agreement, includes adjusted gross income and 
specified tax-exempt income, collectively referred to in the agreement 
as modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) (see Article III, subsection 
D). This return information will be used by officers, employees, and 
contractors of SSA to establish the appropriate amount of any such 
adjustment or increase; and to defend appeals with respect to such 
adjustment or increase.
    Sections 1839(i) and 1860D-13(a)(7) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 1395r(i) 
and 1395w 113(a)(7)) require the Commissioner of SSA to determine the 
amount of a beneficiary's premium subsidy adjustment, or premium 
increase, if the MAGI is above the applicable threshold as established 
in section 1839(i) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 1395r(i)).

PURPOSE(S):
    The purpose of this matching program is to set forth the terms, 
conditions, and safeguards under which IRS will disclose to us certain 
return information for the purpose of establishing the correct amount 
of Medicare Part B premium subsidy adjustments and Medicare Part D 
premium increases under sections 1839(i) and 1860D-13(a)(7) of the Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1395r(i) and 1395w-113(a)(7)), as enacted by section 811 of 
the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 
2003 (MMA; Pub. L. 108-173) and section 3308 of the Affordable Care Act 
of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-148).

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS:
    The individuals whose information is involved in this matching 
program are beneficiaries who are enrolled in, or have become entitled 
to, Medicare Part B, Part D, or both. On a weekly basis, SSA will 
provide IRS with this information with respect to Medicare Part B and 
Part D beneficiaries who: (1) Are enrolled in Medicare under the rules 
in section 1837 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 1395p) and have not disenrolled 
from Medicare Part B; (2) have filed applications specifically for 
Medicare Part B; (3) have been determined to have retroactive Medicare 
Part B entitlement; or (4) have been provided to SSA as enrolled in 
Part D by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS:
    SSA will electronically transmit to IRS the (1) Social Security 
Number (SSN), (2) name, (3) premium year, and (4) income threshold for 
each enrollee for whom SSA requests MAGI data. If the enrollee has 
asked SSA to use a more recent tax year than the usual, SSA will also 
furnish IRS with an indicator and tax year. When there is a match of 
enrollee identifiers, and the MAGI data shows income above the 
applicable threshold established pursuant to section 1839(i) of the 
Act, IRS will disclose to SSA the enrollee's: (1) Adjusted gross income 
dollar amount, (2) tax-exempt income dollar amount, (3) tax year 
involved, and (4) filing status.

SYSTEM(S) OF RECORDS:
    SSA will provide IRS with identifying information with respect to 
enrollees pursuant to the Master Beneficiary Record, 60-0090, last 
fully published at 71 Federal Register (FR) 1826 (January 11, 2006), 
amended at 72 FR 69723 (December 10, 2007), 78 FR 40542 (July 5, 2013), 
83 FR 31250-31251 (July 3, 2018), and 83 FR 54969 (November 1, 2018). 
SSA will maintain the MAGI data provided by IRS pursuant to the 
Medicare Database File System 60-0321, last fully published at 71 FR 
42159 (July 25, 2006) as amended at 72 FR 69723 (December 10, 2007) and 
83 FR 54969 (November 1, 2018). IRS will

[[Page 47838]]

extract MAGI data from the Return Transaction File, which is part of 
the Customer Account Data Engine Individual Master File, Treasury/IRS 
24.030, last fully published at 80 FR 54063 (September 8, 2015).
[FR Doc. 2020-17207 Filed 8-5-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P