239.5  Verification and authentication systems — public assistance programs.
  1.  No later than July 1, 2025, the department shall redesign an existing system; establish a new computerized income, asset, and identity eligibility verification system; or contract with a third-party vendor to provide for identity verification, identity authentication, asset verification, and dual enrollment prevention in order to deter waste, fraud, and abuse in each public assistance program administered by the department. 
  2.  The department may contract with a third-party vendor to develop or provide a service for a real-time eligibility system that allows the department to verify or authenticate income, assets, and identity eligibility of applicants and recipients to prevent fraud, misrepresentation, and inadequate documentation when determining eligibility for public assistance programs. The system shall be accessed prior to determining eligibility, periodically between eligibility redeterminations, and during eligibility redeterminations and reviews. The department may also contract with a third-party vendor to provide information to facilitate reviews of recipient eligibility conducted by the department. Specifically, the department may contract with a third-party consumer reporting agency, as defined by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §1681a, for the purpose of obtaining real-time employment and income information.
  3.  A contract entered into under this section shall provide, at a minimum, for all of the following:
  a.  The establishment of the annual savings amount from utilization of the system or service, and a provision that the contract may be terminated contingent upon the savings not exceeding the total yearly cost to the state for utilization of the system or service.
  b.  That the contract shall not preclude the department from continuing to conduct additional eligibility verification or authentication processes, to receive, review, or verify additional information related to the eligibility of an individual, or from contracting with a third-party vendor to provide additional eligibility authentication or verification information.
  4.  The department shall seek federal approval as necessary to implement and administer this section.
2023 Acts, ch 104, §5