BILL REQ. #: S-4520.1
| State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2012 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/03/12.
AN ACT Relating to department of social and health services waivers of overpayment recoveries; amending RCW 43.20B.030; and creating new sections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 43.20B.030 and 2005 c 292 s 5 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) Except as otherwise provided by law, including subsection (2)
of this section, there will be no collection of overpayments and other
debts due the department after the expiration of six years from the
date of notice of such overpayment or other debt unless the department
has commenced recovery action in a court of law or unless an
administrative remedy authorized by statute is in place. However, any
amount due in a case thus extended shall cease to be a debt due the
department at the expiration of ten years from the date of the notice
of the overpayment or other debt unless a court-ordered remedy would be
in effect for a longer period.
(2) There will be no collection of debts due the department after
the expiration of twenty years from the date a lien is recorded
pursuant to RCW 43.20B.080.
(3) The department, at any time, may accept offers of compromise of
disputed claims or may grant partial or total write-off of any debt due
the department if it is no longer cost-effective to pursue. The
department shall adopt rules establishing the considerations to be made
in the granting or denial of a partial or total write-off of debts.
(4) Notwithstanding the requirements of RCW 43.20B.630, 43.20B.635,
43.20B.640, and 43.20B.645, the department may waive all efforts to
collect overpayments from a client when the department determines the
overpayment occurred through no fault of the client and the total
overpayment was less than two thousand dollars.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 If any part of this act is found to be in
conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to
the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of
this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with
respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not
affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application to
the agencies concerned. Rules adopted under this act must meet federal
requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal
funds by the state.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 No later than January 1, 2013, the office of
fraud and accountability within the department of social and health
services, along with the state auditor's office and the department of
early learning, shall collaborate in an effort to identify, review, and
provide the legislature with recommendations for integrated monitoring
and detection systems to prevent overpayments of public assistance from
occurring.