NTIA Rulemaking Would Offer Coupons to Nursing-Home Residents
Nursing-home residents could qualify for a DTV coupon apiece “under certain circumstances” to assure NTIA coupons “are distributed to verifiable residents of these facilities” without waste, fraud or abuse, the agency said in a notice published Thursday in the Federal Register. Offering nursing home residents coupons raises “particular administrative challenges,” and the rulemaking seeks comments on how best to overcome them, the new notice said. Comments are due June 9.
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NTIA proposes to have residents apply on their own for coupons or designate nursing-home administrators or others to do it for them, the notice said. Applicants would need to provide personal information, including Social Security number, to get a coupon, it said. Under the federal Privacy Act, NTIA can’t deny a coupon to an applicant refusing to furnish a Social Security number, but verification in such instances could slow processing, the NTIA said: “The information collected will be limited to that which is necessary to identify the individual, and, if necessary, conduct an audit of the Coupon Program or the nursing home facility. Similar information is routinely collected from families and legal designees conducting business for individuals in senior care facilities.”
NTIA proposes to allow coupon use only to buy an eligible converter “to be connected to a television set individually owned by the nursing home resident on whose behalf the application was made,” the notice said. “CECBs purchased with coupons issued under this process may not be connected to television sets owned by the nursing home or senior care facility.”
NTIA thinks it “appropriate to revisit our regulations” barring delivery of coupons to most households getting mail at post-office boxes, the notice said. It has denied “a number” of applications in such circumstances since the program went live Jan. 1, it said. The appeals process has shown NTIA that “ many applicants have sound reasons for utilizing a post office box for mail receipt,” it said. “For example, a number of consumers appealing denials expressed concerns about the risk of identity theft as a result of stolen mail received via home delivery as the reason that they receive mail utilizing a post office box.”
NTIA proposes to amend the rules to let coupons be sent to P.O. boxes if an owner “can provide proof of physical residence as proof of the application process,” the notice said. NTIA thinks such proof -- a current utility bill, for instance -- “will balance the need for preventive controls to protect the program from waste, fraud and abuse,” it said.