STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS ON SOURCES AND ACCESS TO DEATH DATA.

SEC. 802. STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS ON SOURCES AND ACCESS TO DEATH DATA. (a) Study.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security shall enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Public Administration to conduct an independent study of the current and potential sources for, and provision of access to, State-owned death data for limited use by Federal agencies and programs for purposes of program administration and payment integrity. Such study shall be performed in consultation with State vital records agencies, the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS), the Commissioner of Social Security, the agency operating the Do Not Pay working system described in section 3354(c) of title 31, United States Code, and other Federal agencies using such death data, as appropriate, and shall include the following: (1) Analysis of the following: (A) The sources and owners of the death data. (B) The timeliness, accuracy, and completeness of State-owned death data, including the process for correcting inaccuracies . (C) Federal and State laws that may affect legal access to, and protections for, State-owned death data. (D) Federalism and the appropriate roles of the relevant Federal and State entities, including States’ role in recording vital records and the core mission and responsibility of any Federal agency involved. (E) The costs incurred for each step of the death data collection, management, protection (legal and otherwise), and transmission processes, and the challenges to adequate funding of State vital records programs. (F) Unmet needs (if any) for these data among Federal agencies or programs. (G) Options for providing Federal agencies with limited access to State-owned death data, including Federal agencies contracting directly with States for access to such data or distribution of such data via the Commissioner of Social Security or another Federal agency or program, and corresponding options for appropriate reimbursement structures. (2) An assessment of the strengths and limitations of the options for distribution and reimbursement identified in paragraph (1)(G). (b) Report.—Upon completion of the study required under subsection (a), the Commissioner of Social Security shall transmit the study to the Committees on Ways and Means and Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives, and the Committees on Finance and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.