83 FR 28491 - Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 118 (June 19, 2018)

Pursuant to 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.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 118 (Tuesday, June 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28491-28492]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13135]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to 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: Comments on this matching program must be received no later than 
July 19, 2018. If no public comment is received during the period 
allowed for comment or unless otherwise published in the Federal 
Register by VA, the new agreement will become effective July 1, 2018, 
provided it is a minimum of 30 days after date of publication in the 
Federal Register. If VA receives public comments, VA shall review the 
comments to determine whether any

[[Page 28492]]

changes to the notice are necessary. This matching program will be 
valid for 18 months from the effective date of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through 
www.Regulations.gov by mail or hand-delivery to the Director, 
Regulations Management (00REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Ave. NW, Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202) 
273-9026 (not a toll-free number). Comments should indicate that they 
are submitted in response to Matching Program IRS/VA. 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. (This is not a toll-free 
number.) 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: LeRoy F. Garcia, Acting Director, 
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 ``Income Verification Records--VA'' (89VA10NB). The IRS 
records are 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.
    Participating Agencies: Department of Veterans Affairs/Veteran 
HealthAdministration and Internal Revenue Service.
    Authority for Conducting the Matching Program: This agreement is 
executed under the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) 
Sec.  552a, as amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection 
Act of 1988, and the regulations and guidance promulgated thereunder. 
Legal authority for the disclosures under this agreement is 38 U.S.C. 
5106 and 5317, and 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7)(D)(viii). Under 38 U.S.C. 1710, 
VA/VHA has a statutory obligation to collect income information from 
certain applicants for medical care and to use that income data to 
determine the appropriate eligibility category for the applicant's 
medical care. 26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7) authorizes the disclosure of tax 
return information with respect to net earnings from self-employment 
and wages, as defined by relevant sections of the Internal Revenue Code 
(IRC), to Federal, state, and local agencies administering certain 
benefit programs under Title 38 of the U.S.C.
    Purpose(s): To identify and verify those veterans whose basic 
eligibility for medical care benefits is dependent upon their financial 
status and ensure they are in the correct Priority Group and copayment 
status.
    Categories of Individuals: Nonservice-connected and zero percent 
noncompensable service-connected veterans who are in Priority Group 5 
based on their inability to defray the expenses for necessary care as 
defined in 38 U.S.C. 1722.
    Categories of Records: The VA records involved in the match are 
``Income Verification Records--VA'' (89VA10NB). The IRS will provide 
return information with respect to unearned income from the Information 
Return Master File (IRMF) Process File, Treas/IRS 22.061.
    System(s) of Records: VHA's System of Records entitled ``Income 
Verification Records--VA'' (89VA10NB) (Routine use nineteen (19)), as 
published at 73 FR 26192 (May 8, 2008), and updated at 78 FR 76897 
(December 19, 2013). IRS will extract return information with respect 
to unearned income from the Information Return Master File (IRMF) 
Processing File, Treas/IRS 22.061, as published at 80 FR 54081 
(September 8, 2015), through the Disclosure of Information to Federal, 
State and Local Agencies (DIFSLA) program.

Signing Authority

    The Senior Agency Official for Privacy, 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. John Buck, 
Director for the Office of Privacy, Information and Identity 
Protection, Department of Veterans Affairs approved this document on 
June 13, 2018 for publication.

     Dated: June 14, 2018.
Kathleen M. Manwell,
Program Analyst, VA Privacy Service, Office of Privacy, Information and 
Identity Protection, Quality, Privacy and Risk, Office of Information 
and Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2018-13135 Filed 6-18-18; 8:45 am]
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