[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1023 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.1023
One Hundred Fifth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-
eight
An Act
To provide for compassionate payments with regard to individuals with
blood-clotting disorders, such as hemophilia, who contracted human
immunodeficiency virus due to contaminated antihemophilic factor, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Ricky Ray
Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:

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1a972d872f7d99bfefa759bc5719740c3a4db9c7e77fc219c165e9774122103e

TITLE I

-HEMOPHILIA RELIEF FUND

HEMOPHILIA-CLOTTING-FACTOR SUIT UNDER THE MEDICAID AND SSI PROGRAMS

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hemophilia-clotting-factor suit under the Medicaid and SSI
programs.

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TITLE II

-TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PRIVATE SETTLEMENT PAYMENTS IN

(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of the
United States a trust fund to be known as the ``Ricky Ray Hemophilia
Relief Fund'', which shall be administered by the Secretary of the
Treasury.
(b) Investment of Amounts in Fund.--Amounts in the Fund shall be
invested in accordance with section 9702 of title 31, United States
Code, and any interest on and proceeds from any such investment shall
be credited to and become part of the Fund.
(c) Availability of Fund.--Amounts in the Fund shall be available
only for disbursement by the Secretary of Health and Human Services
under section 103.
(d) Termination.--The Fund shall terminate upon the expiration of
the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
If all of the amounts in the Fund have not been expended by the end of
the 5-year period, investments of amounts in the Fund shall be
liquidated, the receipts of such liquidation shall be deposited in the
Fund, and all funds remaining in the Fund shall be deposited in the
miscellaneous receipts account in the Treasury of the United States.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Fund to carry out this title $750,000,000.

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CLOTTING DISORDERS AND HIV.
(a) In General.--If the conditions described in subsection (b) are
met and if there are sufficient amounts in the Fund to make each
payment, the Secretary shall make a single payment of $100,000 from the
Fund to any individual who has an HIV infection and who is described in
one of the following paragraphs:
(1) The individual has any form of blood-clotting disorder,
such as hemophilia, and was treated with antihemophilic factor at
any time during the period beginning on July 1, 1982, and ending on
December 31, 1987.
(2) The individual--
(A) is the lawful spouse of an individual described in
paragraph (1); or
(B) is the former lawful spouse of an individual described
in paragraph (1) and was the lawful spouse of the individual at
any time after a date, within the period described in such
subparagraph, on which the individual was treated as described
in such paragraph and through medical documentation can assert
reasonable certainty of transmission of HIV from individual
described in paragraph (1).
(3) The individual acquired the HIV infection through perinatal
transmission from a parent who is an individual described in
paragraph (1) or (2).
(b) Conditions.--The conditions described in this subsection are,
with respect to an individual, as follows:
(1) Submission of medical documentation of hiv infection.--The
individual submits to the Secretary written medical documentation
that the individual has an HIV infection.
(2) Petition.--A petition for the payment is filed with the
Secretary by or on behalf of the individual.
(3) Determination.--The Secretary determines, in accordance
with section 103(b), that the petition meets the requirements of
this title.

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(a) Establishment of Filing Procedures.--The Secretary of Health
and Human Services shall establish procedures under which individuals
may submit petitions for payment under this title. The procedures shall
include a requirement that each petition filed under this Act include
written medical documentation that the relevant individual described in
section 102(a)(1) has (or had) a blood-clotting disorder, such as
hemophilia, and was treated as described in such section.
(b) Determination.--For each petition filed under this title, the
Secretary shall determine whether the petition meets the requirements
of this title.
(c) Payment.--
(1) In general.--To the extent there are sufficient amounts in
the Fund to cover each payment, the Secretary shall pay, from the
Fund, each petition that the Secretary determines meets the
requirements of this title in the order received.
(2) Payments in case of deceased individuals.--
(A) In general.--In the case of an individual referred to
in section 102(a) who is deceased at the time that payment is
made under this section on a petition filed by or on behalf of
the individual, the payment shall be made as follows:
(i) If the individual is survived by a spouse who is
living at the time of payment, the payment shall be made to
such surviving spouse.
(ii) If the individual is not survived by a spouse
described in clause (i), the payment shall be made in equal
shares to all children of the individual who are living at
the time of the payment.
(iii) If the individual is not survived by a person
described in clause (i) or (ii), the payment shall be made
in equal shares to the parents of the individual who are
living at the time of the payment.
(iv) If the individual is not survived by a person
described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii), the payment shall
revert back to the Fund.
(B) Filing of petition by survivor.--If an individual
eligible for payment under section 102(a) dies before filing a
petition under this title, a survivor of the individual may
file a petition for payment under this title on behalf of the
individual if the survivor may receive payment under
subparagraph (A).
(C) Definitions.--For purposes of this paragraph:
(i) The term ``spouse'' means an individual who was
lawfully married to the relevant individual at the time of
death.
(ii) The term ``child'' includes a recognized natural
child, a stepchild who lived with the relevant individual
in a regular parent-child relationship, and an adopted
child.
(iii) The term ``parent'' includes fathers and mothers
through adoption.
(3) Timing of payment.--The Secretary may not make a payment on
a petition under this title before the expiration of the 120-day
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act or after
the expiration of the 5-year period beginning on the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(d) Action on Petitions.--The Secretary shall complete the
determination required by subsection (b) regarding a petition not later
than 120 days after the date the petition is filed under this title.
(e) Humanitarian Nature of Payment.--This Act does not create or
admit any claim of or on behalf of the individual against the United
States or against any officer, employee, or agent thereof acting within
the scope of employment or agency that relate to an HIV infection
arising from treatment with antihemophilic factor, at any time during
the period beginning on July 1, 1982, and ending on December 31, 1987.
A payment under this Act shall, however, when accepted by or on behalf
of the individual, be in full satisfaction of all such claims by or on
behalf of that individual.
(f) Administrative Costs Not Paid From Fund.--No costs incurred by
the Secretary in carrying out this title may be paid from the Fund or
set off against, or otherwise deducted from, any payment made under
subsection (c)(1).
(g) Termination of Duties of Secretary.--The duties of the
Secretary under this section shall cease when the Fund terminates.
(h) Treatment of Payments Under Other Laws.--A payment under
subsection (c)(1) to an individual--
(1) shall be treated for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 as damages described in section 104(a)(2) of such Code;
(2) shall not be included as income or resources for purposes
of determining the eligibility of the individual to receive
benefits described in section 3803(c)(2)(C) of title 31, United
States Code, or the amount of such benefits, and such benefits
shall not be secondary to, conditioned upon reimbursement from, or
subject to any reduction because of receipt of, any such payment;
and
(3) shall not be treated as a third party payment or payment in
relation to a legal liability with respect to such benefits and
shall not be subject (whether by subrogation or otherwise) to
recovery, recoupment, reimbursement, or collection with respect to
such benefits (including the Federal or State governments or any
entity that provides such benefits under a contract).
(i) Regulatory Authority.--The Secretary may issue regulations
necessary to carry out this title.
(j) Time of Issuance of Procedures.--The Secretary shall, through
the promulgation of appropriate regulations, guidelines, or otherwise,
first establish the procedures to carry out this title not later than
120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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(a) Rights Not Assignable or Transferable.--Any right under this
title shall not be assignable or transferable.
(b) One Petition With Respect to Each Victim.--With respect to each
individual described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 102(a),
the Secretary may not make payment with respect to more than one
petition filed in respect to an individual.

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The Secretary may not make any payment with respect to any petition
filed under this title unless the petition is filed within 3 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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A payment made under section 103(c)(1) shall not be considered as
any form of compensation, or reimbursement for a loss, for purposes of
imposing liability on the individual receiving the payment, on the
basis of such receipt, to repay any insurance carrier for insurance
payments or to repay any person on account of worker's compensation
payments. A payment under this title shall not affect any claim against
an insurance carrier with respect to insurance or against any person
with respect to worker's compensation.

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Notwithstanding any contract, the representative of an individual
may not receive, for services rendered in connection with the petition
of an individual under this title, more than 5 percent of a payment
made under this title on the petition. Any such representative who
violates this section shall be fined not more than $50,000.

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For purposes of this title:
(1) The term ``AIDS'' means acquired immune deficiency
syndrome.
(2) The term ``Fund'' means the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief
Fund.
(3) The term ``HIV'' means human immunodeficiency virus.
(4) Unless otherwise provided, the term ``Secretary'' means
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
SUIT UNDER THE SSI PROGRAM

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SUIT UNDER THE MEDICAID AND SSI PROGRAMS.
(a) Private Payments.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
the payments described in paragraph (2) shall not be considered
income or resources in determining eligibility for, or the amount
of--
(A) medical assistance under title XIX of the Social
Security Act; or
(B) supplemental security income benefits under title XVI
of the Social Security Act.
(2) Private payments described.--The payments described in this
subsection are--
(A) payments made from any fund established pursuant to a
class settlement in the case of Susan Walker v. Bayer
Corporation, et al., 96-C-5024 (N.D. Ill.); and
(B) payments made pursuant to a release of all claims in a
case--
(i) that is entered into in lieu of the class
settlement referred to in subparagraph (A); and
(ii) that is signed by all affected parties in such
case on or before the later of--
(I) December 31, 1997; or
(II) the date that is 270 days after the date on
which such release is first sent to the persons (or the
legal representative of such persons) to whom the
payment is to be made.
(b) Government Payments.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
the payments described in paragraph (2) shall not be considered
income or resources in determining eligibility for, or the amount
of supplemental security income benefits under title XVI of the
Social Security Act.
(2) Government payments described.--The payments described in
this subsection are payments made from the Fund established
pursuant to section 101 of this Act.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.

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Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998 — HR. 1023

Other Sections

TITLE I

TITLE II

TITLE II

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