[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 4 (Thursday, January 7, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 867-868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00010]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Privacy Act of 1974: Computer Matching Program
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.
ACTION: Notice of Computer Match Program.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Privacy Act of 1974, as
amended, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines on
the Conduct of Matching Programs, notice is hereby given that the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) intends to conduct a computer
matching program with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Data from the
proposed match will be used to verify the unearned income of
nonservice-connected veterans, and those veterans who are zero percent
service-connected (noncompensable), whose eligibility for VA medical
care is based on their inability to defray the cost of medical care.
These veterans supply household income information that includes their
spouses and dependents at the time of application for VA health care
benefits.
DATES: Effective Date: The match will start no sooner than 30 days
after publication of this notice in the Federal Register (FR), or 40
days after copies of this notice and the agreement of the parties is
submitted to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget,
whichever is later, and end not more than 18 months after the agreement
is properly implemented by the parties. The involved agencies' Data
Integrity Boards (DIB) may extend this match for 12 months provided the
agencies certify to their DIBs, within three months of the ending date
of the original match, that the matching program will be conducted
without change and that the matching program has been conducted in
compliance with the original matching program.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through
www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand-delivery to the Director,
Regulations Management (02REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810
Vermont Ave. NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202)
273-9026. Copies of comments received will be available for public
inspection in the Office of Regulation Policy and Management, Room
1063B, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through
Friday (except holidays). Please call (202) 461-4902 for an
appointment. In addition, during the comment period, comments may be
viewed online through the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at
www.Regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Corrie Kittles, Acting Director, VHA
[[Page 868]]
Chief Business Office, Member Services, Health Eligibility Center,
(404) 848-5300 (this is not a toll free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Veterans Affairs has
statutory authorization under 38 U.S.C. 5317, 38 U.S.C. 5106, 26 U.S.C.
6103(l)(7)(D)(viii) and 5 U.S.C. 552a to establish matching agreements
and request and use income information from other agencies for purposes
of verification of income for determining eligibility for benefits. 38
U.S.C. 1710(a)(2)(G), 1710(a)(3), and 1710(b) identify those veterans
whose basic eligibility for medical care benefits is dependent upon
their financial status. Eligibility for nonservice-connected and zero
percent noncompensable service-connected veterans is determined based
on the veteran's inability to defray the expenses for necessary care as
defined in 38 U.S.C. 1722. This determination can affect their
responsibility to participate in the cost of their care through
copayments and their assignment to an enrollment priority group. The
goal of this match is to obtain IRS unearned income information data
needed for the income verification process. The VA records involved in
the match are ``Enrollment and Eligibility Records--VA'' (147VA16). IRS
will extract return information with respect to unearned income from
the Information Return Master File (IRMF) Process File, Treas/IRS
22.061, through the Disclosure of Information to Federal, State and
Local Agencies (DIFSLA) program. A copy of this notice has been sent to
both Houses of Congress and OMB.
This matching agreement expires 18 months after its effective date.
This match will not continue past the legislative authorized date to
obtain this information.
Signing Authority
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or designee, approved this
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Robert L.
Nabors II, Chief of Staff, approved this document on December 16, 2015
for publication.
Dated: January 4, 2016.
Kathleen M. Manwell,
Program Analyst, VA Privacy Service, Office of Privacy and Records
Management, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2016-00010 Filed 1-6-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P