{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr2359-114/featured_disability-fraud-reduction-and-unethical-deception-fraud-prevention-act-1454550207.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr2359-114/featured_large_disability-fraud-reduction-and-unethical-deception-fraud-prevention-act-1454550207.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr2359-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2015-05-15","title_override":"Putting a Stop to Disability Fraud","summary_override":"H.R. 5260 — known as the Stop Disability Fraud Act of 2014 — aims to combat fraud in the Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) program to \"better protect taxpayers and beneficiaries.\"

Within it's sweeping provisions, some highlights of H.R. 5260 include:

Combating conspiracy fraud by:

Preventing unlicensed or sanctioned physicians\n and health care providers from submitting evidence to be considered when determining a person's \ndisability.
Allowing the Social Security Administration (SSA) to immediately disqualify or suspend, after notice, a \nrepresentative of a person making a disability claim if they have been disbarred, convicted of a felony or a \ncrime of moral turpitude.
Creating a new specific felony charge for conspiracy to commit Social Security fraud. This felony would be punishable by up to 5 years in prison, and fines up to $250,000, or both.
Requiring courts to order those who commit fraud to pay full \nrestitution (every penny they defrauded). Under current law — requiring restitution is optional.

Strengthening program protections by:

Requiring the Commissioner to review the quality of the fraud hearings, and to report those findings every year to Congress.
Requiring the Commissioner to annually publish productivity, processing time, pending, and \ndecision outcomes for each hearing officer, hearing office, region, and \nthe nation.
Requiring that Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) \ndata to be reviewed and standardized to streamline data exchanges between human service programs.

Modernizing disability programs by:

Requiring the administration to update 35-year-old guidelines for determining eligibility by considering new employment opportunities made possible by advancements in treatment, rehabilitation and technology.
Expanding current research on how disability determinations are conducted.
Requiring annual reporting to Congress on the progress of said research.
Authorizing the Commissioner to send denied applicants to public or private sector employment and support providers.
Requiring the Commissioner to establish online tools for the public to asses how Disability Insurance and SSI benefits impact their eligibility in Federal \nand State programs.

","official_title":"To amend the Social Security Act to prevent disability fraud, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Disability Fraud Reduction and Unethical Deception (FRAUD) Prevention Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Disability Fraud Reduction and Unethical Deception (FRAUD) Prevention Act \n\nAmends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to authorize the Social Security Administration (SSA) to disqualify or suspend immediately from appearing as a claimant representative before it any individual who has been convicted of a felony in a federal or state court, or, in the case of an attorney, upon the individual's disbarment from any court or bar to which he or she was previously admitted to practice.\n\nAmends SSAct titles II, VIII (Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans), and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) to subject to criminal penalties for fraud any conspiracy to commit specified offenses, and increase criminal as well as civil monetary penalties for certain individuals in positions of trust who commit fraud.\n\nAmends SSAct title II to direct the SSA to establish rules under which fines and other appropriate sanctions may be imposed on ...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable. ","impact":"People who receive social security disability benefits, physicians, attorneys, The Social Security Administration. ","argument_for":"By reducing the fraud that undermines the Social Security Disability Insurance program, this bill would protect taxpayers and beneficiaries by ensuring that this safety net program is available for those who truly need it.","argument_against":"The bill is window dressing by members of Congress who want to appear to be cracking down on fraud — instead of mandating potentially unpopular fixes. This bill could also make it harder for those entitled to benefits, to receive them.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr2359-114","bill_id":"hr2359-114","formal_id":"H.R. 2359","chamber":"house","congress":114,"last_action_at":"2015-06-01T00:00:00.000Z","active":false,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/2359","plain_text_url":"http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr2359ih/html/BILLS-114hr2359ih.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr2359-114.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/2359/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2015-05-15","related_bill_ids":["s1929-114"],"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":89,"committees":[{"name":"Social Security","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSWM01","subcommittee":true},{"name":"Committee on Ways and Means","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSWM","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr2359-114","details":"/api/bills/hr2359-114/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr2359-114","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr2359-114/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr2359-114/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":4,"slug":"hr2359-114-disability-fraud-reduction-and-unethical-deception-fraud-prevention-act","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":1370,"yea_vote_count":868,"nay_vote_count":497,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["poverty","government"],"issue_ids":["poverty","government"],"sponsor_id":385}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"poverty","name":"Poverty","slug":"poverty","description":"US Congressional Legislation encompassing poverty and welfare assistance, and Social Security. ","page_title":"US Federal legislation related to Poverty and Social Welfare, including Social Security - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/poverty/black_poverty-1453508993.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/poverty/grey_poverty-1453508993.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/poverty/white_poverty-1453508993.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"government","name":"Government","slug":"government","description":"Federal legislation related to the operations of the US Federal Government. Bills can encompass government administration, regulation of political parties, the US postal service, US territories and public contracts.","page_title":"US Government - Federal legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/black_government-1453508811.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/grey_government-1453508811.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/white_government-1453508811.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Robin","vote_count":310,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/1176999139047102/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/1176999139047102/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/1176999139047102/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/1176999139047102/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/BmynPJE9/following","followers":"/api/users/BmynPJE9/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":1,"is_following":null,"influence_score":60,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":2,"following_count":2,"position_count":18,"id":"BmynPJE9","partner_id":null},{"name":"J.J.","vote_count":13,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/ZPoE6jA2/following","followers":"/api/users/ZPoE6jA2/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"j.j.","issue_count":10,"is_following":null,"influence_score":0,"influence_level":0,"follower_count":0,"following_count":0,"position_count":6,"id":"ZPoE6jA2","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"90dff287-19af-4644-828d-516402ea4a46","argument_for":null,"argument_against":"The real issue is not fraud it is an attempt to take away benefits and make it harder to get benefits. It's hard enough for people with disabilities to get benefits and can take years. The amount in benefits that they do receive keeps them in poverty. Many disabled are our vets, do we want to hurt them more?","show_argument_for":false,"show_argument_against":true,"upvote_count":1,"upvotes_for_count":null,"upvotes_against_count":1,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":1,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/90dff287-19af-4644-828d-516402ea4a46"},"body":"The real issue is not fraud it is an attempt to take away benefits and make it harder to get benefits. It's hard enough for people with disabilities to get benefits and can take years. The amount in benefits that they do receive keeps them in poverty. Many disabled are our vets, do we want to hurt them more?","stance":"nay","created_at":"2017-01-22T17:17:28.777Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/90dff287-19af-4644-828d-516402ea4a46.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr2359-114","user_id":"BmynPJE9","endorser_ids":["ZPoE6jA2"]}}

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Putting a Stop to Disability Fraud