TN 2 (01-17)

A. Disclosure policy

We disclose information to a State or local agency that administers a program similar to a Social Security program when:

• the information concerns eligibility, benefit amounts, or other matters of benefit status in a Social Security program, and

• the State or local agency (or an agent on its behalf) will use the information to determine the same matters in a health maintenance or income maintenance program that it administers.

The disclosure to a State or local agency for its administration of a health maintenance or income maintenance program is compatible with the purpose for which we collected the data. When the request meets these conditions, disclosure without consent to State and local agencies is permissible because it meets the requirements of our health maintenance or income maintenance Privacy Act routine use exception.

When requesting information from us, the State or local agency must demonstrate how the requested information is relevant and necessary to its applicants’ entitlement or eligibility for services under its program(s). For the kinds of information we may disclose, see GN 03314.002.

NOTE: The administration of health maintenance or income maintenance programs includes conducting targeted investigations and prosecutions of fraud or other criminal abuse of such programs. The administration of these programs does not include use of our data for outreach efforts and data analytics. This means that a State Agency may not request SSA records containing personally identifiable information under the terms of a current or proposed data exchange agreement to perform research and statistical analysis of the health maintenance or income maintenance programs the State agency administers.

B. Systems of records and routine use disclosures

Each of our systems of records notices has a section titled, “Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses.” Our health maintenance and income maintenance routine use permits disclosure of certain non-tax return information to State and local agencies for their administration of health maintenance and income maintenance programs. The health maintenance and income maintenance routine use is cited in a number of our systems of records, including but not limited to the following:

• 60-0058—Master Files of Social Security Number (SSN) Holders and SSN Applications;

• 60-0090—Master Beneficiary Record;

• 60-0103—Supplemental Security Income Record and Special Veterans Benefits Records; and

• 60-0269—Prisoner Update Processing System.

Disclosure of certain tax return information under the Earnings Recording and Self-Employment Income System (60-0059) system of record is permissible pursuant to Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code. For more information on the disclosure of tax return information, see GN 03314.002A.

NOTE: We may also make disclosures to State or local agencies under other systems of records that contain the relevant information the State or local agency is requesting, as long as the health maintenance and income maintenance routine use is in that system of records and applies to the requested disclosure. Additionally, we may disclose information when another routine use in the relevant system of records permits the disclosure, depending upon the purpose of the request. Our systems of records and their applicable routine uses can be reviewed here: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/foia/bluebook/bluebook.htm.

C. Procedure for handling a request for disclosure from a State or local agency

The majority of the disclosures we make to State or local agencies for their administration of health maintenance and income maintenance programs occur via electronic data exchanges, as explained in GN 03314.001E.6. Consult with the regional office Data Exchange Coordinator or Privacy Act Coordinator to determine if we have a data exchange in effect with a particular State or local agency. For more information regarding the handling of requests from State and local agencies, see GN 03314.001E.