BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1568
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1568 (Veterans Affairs Committee)
As Amended April 23, 2009
Majority vote
HEALTH 18-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17=0
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|Ayes:|Jones, Fletcher, Adams, |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, |
| |Ammiano, Block, Carter, | |Ammiano, |
| |Conway, De La Torre, De | |Charles Calderon, Davis, |
| |Leon, Emmerson, Hall, | |Duvall, Fuentes, Hall, |
| |Hayashi, Hernandez, | |Harkey, Miller, |
| |Bonnie Lowenthal, | |John A. Perez, Price, |
| |Nava, V. Manuel Perez, | |Skinner, Solorio, Audra |
| |Salas, | |Strickland, Torlakson, |
| |Audra Strickland | |Krekorian |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes the Public Assistance Reporting Information
System (PARIS) a permanent program, delays its operative date
until January 1, 2010 and repeals language requiring the
Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to select three
consenting counties that have a United States Department of
Veterans Affairs (USDVA) medical center to participate in PARIS.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes PARIS a permanent program by repealing language making
PARIS a two-year pilot program where DHCS selects three
consenting counties that have in operation a USDVA medical
center to participate in the pilot.
2)Repeals language allowing DHCS to expand the PARIS pilot
program statewide and continue it indefinitely if DHCS
determines PARIS is cost effective.
3)Requires DHCS to implement the PARIS pilot program by January
1, 2010, instead of July 1, 2009 in existing law.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Major out-year annual General Fund (GF) savings, once
AB 1568
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implemented, to the extent matches lead to increased benefits
for veterans and reduced GF spending. If all of the 144,000
veterans currently enrolled in Medi-Cal shifted to VA health
care, the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) estimates a
savings to the Medi-Cal Program of about $250 million GF. If
10% of veterans switched from Medi-Cal to VA healthcare,
reflecting a more gradual shift, the estimated savings would
be $25 million. The LAO also identified additional
non-veteran related GF savings of at least $7 million. These
savings would result from reducing duplicate public program
payments to out-of-state residents and others claiming from
more that one state.
2)One-time costs of $350,000 (50% GF) for DHCS to conduct a
feasibility study report on the statewide implementation of
PARIS.
COMMENTS : According to the Committee on Veterans Affairs, as
author, this bill would require DHCS to implement PARIS as a
permanent program, thereby allowing DHCS to identify veterans
enrolled in the Medi-Cal Program who could receive medical
benefits through the federal Veterans Health Administration that
could either replace or supplement benefits available from the
Medi-Cal Program. The author states the PARIS system has
already shown itself to be an effective program in other states
such as New York. Additionally, the author states the cost of
implementing this legislation statewide is not much more than
the cost to implement the pilot project, and the author states
the savings statewide (as opposed to implementing in only three
counties) would be astronomical.
AB 1183 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 758, Statutes of 2008,
requires DHCS to utilize the federal PARIS by July 1, 2009 as a
two-year pilot program to identify veterans and their dependents
or survivors who are enrolled in the Medi-Cal program and assist
them in obtaining federal veteran health care benefits. Under
existing law, DHCS must select three consenting counties that
have in operation a USDVA medical center to participate in the
pilot program. DHCS is required, under the pilot program, to
exchange information with PARIS and identify veterans and their
dependents or survivors who are receiving Medi-Cal benefits in
the pilot program counties. The 2009-10 budget for DHCS
indicates it plans to implement PARIS in 2009-10 to allow it to
test the viability of long-term savings prior to incurring costs
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associated with statewide implementation. DHCS' preliminary
estimate of savings for 2009-10, on a cash basis, are $204,000
($102,000 GF).
In 2007, as part of its analysis of the Governor's proposed
budget, the LAO wrote an analysis of PARIS and recommended its
implementation in California. The LAO stated PARIS is operated
by the United States Department of Health and Human Services and
is a computer data matching process that matches public
assistance recipients in participating states against various
state and federal databases on a quarterly and annual basis.
States voluntarily participate in PARIS. The three databases
compared under the PARIS match are:
1)The Veterans Administration (VA), to determine if an
individual is a veteran and whether or not the individual is
collecting VA benefits.
2)Interstate, which identifies individuals simultaneously
collecting benefits in more than one state for Medicaid,
Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment,
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (known as TANF or
CalWORKs in California) and/or Food Stamps.
3)Federal, which determines whether an individual receiving
public assistance benefits is a former federal or military
employee collecting a retirement pension payment or a current
federal or military employee. The current DHCS computer
system does not identify Medi-Cal beneficiaries by their
status as veterans.
A 2005 survey performed by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that
approximately 144,000 veterans in California received Medi-Cal
benefits. According to the LAO, the ability to identify
veterans enrolled in Medi-Cal using PARIS would allow DHCS to
work with CVSOs to promote a voluntary shift of veterans from
Medi-Cal to the VA system of health care.
Analysis Prepared by : Scott Bain / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
FN: 0001198