H.R. 1403 — LIVE Beneficiaries Act

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Leveraging Integrity and Verification of Eligibility for Beneficiaries Act” or the “LIVE Beneficiaries Act.”

This section requires State Medicaid plans in the 50 States and the District of Columbia to comply with new eligibility verification rules to prevent deceased individuals from remaining enrolled, beginning January 1, 2027. As background, Medicaid is the joint federal-state program that provides medical assistance to eligible low-income individuals. The section directs States to review the Death Master File at least quarterly to determine whether any Medicaid enrollees are deceased. If a State determines that an enrollee is deceased based on that file, the State must treat the information as factual confirmation of death under 42 C.F.R. § 431.213(a), disenroll the individual, and stop Medicaid payments on the person’s behalf, except for services furnished before death. The section also requires States to immediately reenroll an individual retroactive to the date of disenrollment if the person was misidentified as deceased and erroneously removed from coverage. It further clarifies that States may use other electronic data sources to identify potentially deceased beneficiaries, so long as they also comply with these quarterly screening, disenrollment, and reinstatement requirements.