CHAPTER 167 PUBLIC ASSISTANCE TO BLIND, AGED, OR DISABLED PERSONS, AND TO DEPENDENT CHILDREN
Section 167:4-a
167:4-a Financial Disclosure by Applicants and Recipients. –
I. Notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 359-C or any other law to the contrary, any person who is an applicant for or recipient of any public assistance shall, by his application for such assistance, or by his continued acceptance of such benefits, whether requested or obtained directly or through another person acting on his behalf, be deemed to have authorized disclosure of his financial records to the department of health and human services, by financial institutions and by clearinghouses which disseminate financial record information.
II. The commissioner is hereby authorized to request and receive from any bank, trust company, savings and loan association, credit union, or other financial institution doing business in this state the financial records of any applicant for or recipient of medical assistance whose eligibility for medical assistance is based upon the applicant's or recipient's age, blindness, or disability. The institution shall furnish the information specified in paragraph VI within 15 days of the department's request.
III. The department or any financial institution that discloses financial records under this section shall not be subject to civil liability or criminal prosecution which is based upon its disclosure under this section, or for any other action taken in good faith to comply with the requirements of this section.
IV. [Repealed.]
V. Any records established or information collected pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be made available only to the commissioner and his or her authorized designee, and the applicant or recipient, and his or her authorized representative as authorized by the rules of the department. Such records and information shall be available and used only for purposes directly connected with the determination and verification of eligibility for medical assistance for applicants and recipients whose eligibility for medical assistance is based upon the applicant's or recipient's age, blindness, or disability. The records and information made available to the applicant or recipient, or his or her authorized representative shall not include information provided to the department that is prohibited from release by federal law, state statute, state case law, or by contract or agreement between the department and another entity if such contract or agreement prohibits release of such information.
VI. The department, in coordination with financial institutions doing business in the state, may develop and operate a data match system, using automated data exchanges to the maximum extent feasible, in which each financial institution is required to provide, when requested by the department and subject to reasonable reimbursement as set forth in Public Law 110-252, up to 5 years of information regarding the name, record address, social security number or other taxpayer identification number, monthly account balance, and other identifying information for each applicant or recipient who maintains an account at the financial institution, as identified by the department by name and social security number or other taxpayer identification number. The system shall be based on a cost-effective search algorithm and shall include means to assure compliance with the provisions of this section.
VII. In this section, "financial institution", except as otherwise provided in 12 U.S.C. section 3414, means any office of a bank, savings bank, card issuer as defined in 15 U.S.C. section 1602(n), industrial loan company, trust company, savings association, building and loan, or homestead association, including cooperative banks, credit union, or consumer finance institution, located in any state or territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, or the Virgin Islands.