LIABILITY OF REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES FOR MISUSED BENEFITS.

SEC. 105. LIABILITY OF REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES FOR MISUSED BENEFITS.(a) Title II Amendments.—Section 205(j) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)) (as amended by sections 101 and 102) is amended further—(1) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), and (9) as paragraphs (8), (9), and (10), respectively;(2) in paragraphs (2)(C)(v), (3)(F), and (4)(B), by striking “paragraph (9)” and inserting “paragraph (10)”;(3) in paragraph (6)(A)(ii), by striking “paragraph (9)” and inserting “paragraph (10)”; and(4) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:“(7)(A) If the Commissioner of Social Security or a court of competent jurisdiction determines that a representative payee that is not a Federal, State, or local government agency has misused all or part of an individual’s benefit that was paid to such representative payee under this subsection, the representative payee shall be liable for the amount misused, and such amount (to the extent not repaid by the representative payee) shall be treated as an overpayment of benefits under this title to the representative payee for all purposes of this Act and related laws pertaining to the recovery of such overpayments. Subject to subparagraph (B), upon recovering all or any part of such amount, the Commissioner shall certify an amount equal to the recovered amount for payment to such individual or such individual’s alternative representative payee.“(B) The total of the amount certified for payment to such individual or such individual’s alternative representative payee under subparagraph (A) and the amount certified for payment under paragraph (5) may not exceed the total benefit amount misused by the representative payee with respect to such individual.”.(b) Title VIII Amendment.—Section 807 of such Act (as amended by section 102(b)(2)) is amended further by adding at the end the following:“(l) Liability for Misused Amounts.—“(1) In general.—If the Commissioner of Social Security or a court of competent jurisdiction determines that a representative payee that is not a Federal, State, or local government agency has misused all or part of a qualified individual’s benefit that was paid to such representative payee under this section, the representative payee shall be liable for the amount misused, and such amount (to the extent not repaid by the representative payee) shall be treated as an overpayment of benefits under this title to the representative payee for all purposes of this Act and related laws pertaining to the recovery of such overpayments. Subject to paragraph (2), upon recovering all or any part of such amount, the Commissioner shall make payment of an amount equal to the recovered amount to such qualified 118 STAT. 505 individual or such qualified individual’s alternative representative payee.“(2) Limitation.—The total of the amount paid to such individual or such individual’s alternative representative payee under paragraph (1) and the amount paid under subsection (i) may not exceed the total benefit amount misused by the representative payee with respect to such individual.”.(c) Title XVI Amendments.—Section 1631(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)) (as amended by section 102(b)(3)) is amended further—(1) in subparagraph (G)(i)(II), by striking “section 205(j)(9)” and inserting “section 205(j)(10)”; and(2) by striking subparagraph (H) and inserting the following:“(H)(i) If the Commissioner of Social Security or a court of competent jurisdiction determines that a representative payee that is not a Federal, State, or local government agency has misused all or part of an individual’s benefit that was paid to the representative payee under this paragraph, the representative payee shall be liable for the amount misused, and the amount (to the extent not repaid by the representative payee) shall be treated as an overpayment of benefits under this title to the representative payee for all purposes of this Act and related laws pertaining to the recovery of the overpayments. Subject to clause (ii), upon recovering all or any part of the amount, the Commissioner shall make payment of an amount equal to the recovered amount to such individual or such individual’s alternative representative payee.“(ii) The total of the amount paid to such individual or such individual’s alternative representative payee under clause (i) and the amount paid under subparagraph (E) may not exceed the total benefit amount misused by the representative payee with respect to such individual.”.(d) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to benefit misuse by a representative payee in any case with respect to which the Commissioner of Social Security or a court of competent jurisdiction makes the determination of misuse after 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.