B-760, Fiscal Management Services - Accounts Receivable Responsibilities

Revision 19-3; Effective July 1, 2019

All Programs

HHSC Accounts Receivable staff:

  • maintain the Accounts Receivable Tracking System (ARTS);
  • manage the billing and collection process;
  • manage delinquent claims;
  • renegotiate methods of collection;
  • modify existing claims;
  • respond to inquiries from individuals or staff from the date the claim is established, including:
    • delinquent notices;
    • collection efforts;
    • federal payment intercepts through the Treasury Offset Program; and
    • license suspensions;
  • process fair hearing requests related to claims establishment or collection (if the request is past 90 days from the claim origination date); and
  • initiate the process for one-time debits of an EBT food account to repay a SNAP claim when the request is made after the claim is established.

B—761 Claims Collection

Revision 11-1; Effective January 1, 2011

B—761.1 Recoupment

Revision 19-3; Effective July 1, 2019

TANF and SNAP

Recoupment, also known as allotment reduction, is a method of recovering an overpayment claim by withholding a portion of the household's benefits.

B—761.1.1 Action on Recoupment Cases

Revision 20-2; Effective April 1, 2020

TANF and SNAP

Recoupment is initiated when Office of Inspector General (OIG) staff enter a claim against a household into the Accounts Receivable Tracking System (ARTS). ARTS interfaces with TIERS to automatically reduce the household's benefit allotment if any liable household member is currently receiving benefits.

Overpayments are recouped from all identified liable household members. When persons liable for an overpayment currently reside in separate households, overpayments are recouped from all liable household members until all claims are paid in full. When a liable household member is currently disqualified but on an active case, overpayments are recouped from the household benefit allotment received by the other certified members.

Follow policy in B-761.2.1, Action on Restitution Cases, if there is no liable household member currently receiving benefits to recoup from.

If a liable household member begins receiving benefits, TIERS automatically begins the recoupment process from the new benefit allotment. TIERS continues to recoup the newly certified benefits until the claim is paid in full.

Notes:

  • HHSC Accounts Receivable staff may negotiate a repayment agreement with the household. However, if a claim is being recouped or has been sent to the U.S. Treasury for collection, HHSC Accounts Receivable will not enter into a new repayment plan.
  • HHSC Accounts Receivable staff are authorized to make corrections to the recoupment records in ARTS.

Recoupment information is available through TIERS inquiry, ARTS inquiry, or by calling the Accounts Receivable Customer Service Hotline at 800-666-8531.

Related Policy

Identifying Liable Members,  B-753.1
Recoupment Amount, B-761.1.3
Action on Restitution Cases, B-761.2.1

B—761.1.2 Recoupment Hierarchy

Revision 15-4; Effective October 1, 2015

TANF and SNAP

Claims are recouped by error type in the following order.

  1. Type A — IPVs (fraud)
  2. Type J — inadvertent household error/misunderstanding
  3. Type L — agency error

All three claim types can be simultaneously stored on ARTS. Recoupment of a Type A claim places Type J and L claims on hold status until the Type A recoupment is completed. ARTS automatically resumes recoupment of the Type J or L claim when all of the individual's Type A claims have been paid in full.

B—761.1.3 Recoupment Amount

Revision 15-4; Effective October 1, 2015

TANF

HHSC recoups Type A, J, and L claims at 10 percent of the household's maximum grant, rounded down to the nearest dollar.

Once a TANF claim is recouped in full, TIERS will automatically rebudget any active SNAP EDG to include the appropriate ongoing TANF grant amount. See A-1324.18, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

SNAP

For Type A claims, HHSC recoups at 20 percent of the household allotment or $20, whichever is greater. When calculating a dollar amount using the percentage, TIERS rounds 49 cents down and 50 cents up to the next whole dollar.

For Types J and L claims, HHSC recoups at 10 percent of the household allotment or $10, whichever is greater. When calculating a dollar amount using the percentage, TIERS rounds 49 cents down and 50 cents up to the next whole dollar.

Notes:

  • When benefits are $10 or less, no benefits are issued.
  • When a current household member is disqualified for an IPV, recoupment is computed using the allotment the household would receive if the disqualified member was included in the household size.

B—761.2 Restitution

Revision 19-3; Effective July 1, 2019

TANF and SNAP

Restitution is a method of recovering an overpayment claim by receiving payments in the form of a cashier's check, certified or personal check, money orders made payable to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, or credit or debit card payments through the Texas.gov HHSC Online Overpayment System (HOOPS).

B—761.2.1 Action on Restitution Cases

Revision 20-2; Effective April 1, 2020

TANF and SNAP

When OIG establishes an overpayment claim, Form OIG 5027, Repayment Agreement is sent to the primary liable household member along with Form OIG 5034, Notice of SNAP Overpayment Claim, or Form OIG 5039, Notice of TANF Overpayment Claim.

The primary liable household member has 30 days from the date on the repayment agreement to agree to restitution by signing the agreement and returning it to the OIG investigator. The repayment agreement provides the household with both the signature and first payment due date.

OIG staff are responsible for sending the repayment agreement, signed or unsigned, to HHSC Accounts Receivable for processing as soon as it is received. For the household to avoid delinquency, all payments must be sent to HHSC Accounts Receivable on or before the 30th day from the date on the repayment agreement.

If a household has delinquent restitution payments and TIERS is unable to match an overpayment claim to a liable household member currently receiving benefits, then the overpayment claim is eligible for referral to the:

  • Federal Treasury Offset Program (TOP) for an intercept of federal payments (only applicable to SNAP claims once the payment is 120 days delinquent);
  • Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts for interception of any state payments, including lottery winnings; or
  • appropriate agencies to request suspension of licenses.

Restitution payments cannot be made in lieu of mandatory recoupment. If a liable household member is making restitution payments and becomes certified on an active case, then the liable household member is switched from a restitution payment plan to a recoupment payment plan. Recoupment begins after the first month of certification. Once ARTS receives notification from TIERS of the first recoupment payment from the active case, ARTS automatically switches the payment plan from restitution to recoupment.

If the household was on a restitution payment plan and receiving bills, all billing will stop until the household stops receiving benefits or when the claim is paid in full.

In order to pay down their overpayment balance, households may make extra restitution payments in addition to their mandatory repayment or recoupment payments.

Related Policy

Identifying Liable Members, B-753.1
Action on Recoupment Cases, B-761.1.1
Restitution Amount, B-761.2.2

B—761.2.2 Restitution Amount

Revision 19-3; Effective July 1, 2019

TANF and SNAP

The repayment agreement reflects a 36-month amortized schedule for the claim to be repaid within three years. If the amortized monthly payment is less than $25, then the agreement is generated with $25 as the minimum payment.

Only HHSC Accounts Receivable staff can renegotiate a payment plan differing from the one on the repayment agreement. Accounts receivable staff sends all subsequent monthly bills or repayment agreements to households after OIG sends the initial repayment agreement.

B—762 Action on Receipt of Payments

Revision 19-3; Effective July 1, 2019

TANF and SNAP

When staff receive restitution payments, staff:

  • complete Form H4100, Money Receipt; and
  • submit the payment or warrants with a copy of Form H4100 within 24 hours of receipt to:

    Texas Health and Human Services Commission
    Accounts Receivable
    P.O. Box 149055
    Austin, TX 78714-9055

Note: Staff must mark each TANF warrant void when received.

B—763 Debit of SNAP EBT Accounts

Revision 13-3; Effective July 1, 2013

SNAP

Debit of an EBT food account is a method of recovering an overpayment claim by electronically removing benefits from the household's EBT account. The value of the debit is applied to the SNAP claim.

B—763.1 One-Time Debit of an Active EBT Account

Revision 20-2; Effective April 1, 2020

SNAP

A household member liable for an overpayment with an active EBT food account may request a one-time debit of the EBT food account as payment toward a SNAP overpayment claim instead of making separate recoupment payments. When this occurs OIG or HHSC Accounts Receivable staff:

  • use the EBT System to verify the:
    • status of the EBT food account; and
    • balance of the account;
  • complete Form H1021, Payment Agreement — Verbal Authorization for One-Time Debit of an Active Lone Star Food Account to document the verbal authorization to repay the claim by removing benefits from the active EBT food account;
  • inform the liable household member:
    • that the amount of the one-time payment must be maintained in the EBT account until the debit is completed; and
    • that it takes approximately 14 days for the debit transaction to be completed.
    • the person will receive a receipt of the debit within 10 days of the debit transaction; and
  • submit the original of Form H1021 by:
    • Mail:
      HHSC Lone Star Business Services
      State Office
      Mail Code 2033; or
    • Fax: 512-206-5961; and
  • Maintain a copy of Form H1021 in the OIG or ARTS file.

Lone Star Business Services staff remove the SNAP benefits from the food account and submit Form H1021 to Accounts Receivable to pay the claim.

Note: When the liable household member contacts HHSC and disagrees with the debit transaction, they may request a fair hearing to request the return of the benefits to their account.

Related Policy

Identifying Liable Members, B-753.1
Fair Hearings, B-764

B—763.2 Offset Expunged Benefits

Revision 19-3; Effective July 1, 2019

SNAP

When staff become aware that a household has expunged SNAP benefits, OIG or HHSC Accounts Receivable staff must offset the balance of a SNAP claim by the amount of the expungement.

B—764 Fair Hearings

Revision 20-4; Effective October 1, 2020

TANF and SNAP

When it is unclear whether the household wishes to appeal an action taken by eligibility staff or an action taken by OIG staff, eligibility staff and OIG review the request for an appeal to determine what action the household is appealing. If a household disputes the establishment of a claim or collection action initiated by OIG and requests an appeal, OIG will take the lead and begin processing the appeal. Eligibility staff must attend the hearing along with OIG if the appeal includes the eligibility staff's action that was not part of the establishment of the claim.

Note: Form H4800, Fair Hearing Request Summary, is not used to submit an appeal request when the household disputes the establishment of a claim or action initiated by OIG. If Form H4800 is sent directly to the hearings division, it will be returned to staff with instructions to correctly submit the information.

OIG Staff

OIG staff use the Automated System for the Office of Inspector General (ASOIG) to submit appeal requests on claims or collection actions.  

OIG staff use the State Portal Appeals tab and the Hearing Evidence Packets Upload tab to send evidence documents related to an appeal request.

Exception: When ASOIG is not available or an investigation is not found in ASOIG, OIG staff process the appeal through the TIERS Hearings and Appeal function located in the left navigation menu.

Eligibility Staff Working in TIERS

When a person verbally requests an appeal, process the fair hearing request by selecting the Hearing and Appeal option found on the left-navigation menu in TIERS and choose Create Appeal.

When a fair hearing request is received in writing by fax or mail, fax the appeal request, using the fair hearing cover sheet, through the expedited fax line (866-559-9628) for processing. The fair hearing request is not entered in the State Portal.

Whether the TIERS appeal request is received verbally or in writing, the Centralized Representation Unit (CRU) continues to process the appeal, including creating and submitting the evidence packet. Copies of the evidence packet are mailed to the appellant and any authorized or legal representative.

Related Policy

Appeal Procedures, B-1030
Local Office Procedures for Hearing Requests, B-1031
Providing Form H4800-A, Fair Hearing Request Summary (Addendum), to Hearings Division, B-1031.2