BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 174
Author: Monning (D)
Amended: 8/14/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/27/12
AYES: Hernandez, Harman, Alquist, Anderson, Blakeslee, De
León, DeSaulnier, Rubio, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 8/13/12
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Dutton
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not relevant
SUBJECT : Office of Systems Integration: California
Health and Human Services Automation Fund
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill establishes in law the California
Health and Human Services Automation Fund (Fund). This
bill specifies the sources of funding that should be
transferred to and appropriated from the Fund. This bill
authorizes the Employment Development Department (EDD) and
the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) to disclose certain
information to the California Health Benefit Exchange
(Exchange).
ANALYSIS :
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Existing law:
1. Establishes Office of Systems Integration (OSI) within
the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHSA),
which is the successor to, and is vested with all of the
powers and responsibilities of the Systems Integration
Division of the CHHSA Data Center.
2. Requires any contracts, leases, licenses, or any other
agreements regarding any of the following to be assigned
to OSI:
A. The Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS);
B. The Child Welfare Services/Case Management System
(CWS/CMS);
C. Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT);
D. The Statewide Fingerprinting Imaging System
(SFIS);
E. The Case Management Information Payrolling System
(CMIPS); and
F. The EDD Unemployment Insurance Modernization
Project.
This bill establishes in statute the Fund. Monies in the
Fund shall be available, upon appropriation of the
Legislature, for the OSI to develop and manage specified
information technology projects. This bill specifies that
monies in the Fund shall include funds appropriated to the
Department of Social Services (DSS), the EDD, the
Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), the Managed Risk
Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB), and the Exchange, for
specified information technology projects.
This bill also authorizes the EDD and the FTB to disclose
certain information relating to employment status, wages,
and unemployment claims to the Exchange. The purpose of
these provisions is to allow the Exchange to use such data
to determine an applicant's eligibility for enrollment in
Medi-Cal or to receive subsidized health care coverage
through the Exchange. It also specifies that nothing in
this bill overrides any existing state or federal laws
regarding patient privacy or information security.
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Background
SAWS . According to a February 2013 report from the
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), California's SAWS is
made up of multiple systems which support such functions as
eligibility and benefit determination, enrollment, and case
maintenance at the county level for some of the state's
major health and human services programs, including
Medi-Cal, California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to
Kids (CalWORKS), and CalFresh. The LAO reported that these
automation systems have been a sizable financial commitment
for the state, taking multiple years and hundreds of
millions of state and federal dollars to develop and
maintain. Over the years, the Legislature has consolidated
the total number of SAWS systems, reducing the state's
financial burden of maintaining multiple systems.
CWS/CMS . According to the CWS/CMS Web site, CWS/CMS is a
statewide tool that supports an effective Child Welfare
System of services. The CWS/CMS improves the lives of
children and families by giving service workers information
to improve case work services and freeing them from
repetitive tasks; provides policy makers with information
to design and manage services; and fulfills state and
federal legislative intent. The current automated system,
CWS/CMS, does not fully support child welfare practice and
CWS workers do not have the tools or access to all the
information needed and available to do their jobs. CWS/CMS
is the most complex and largest child-welfare caseload in
the United States. CWS/CMS is in maintenance and
operations mode with minimal development activity
occurring. Numerous requests for changes and upgrades were
deferred in anticipation of the improved system expected
with the CWS/Web Project.
The California 2011-12 enacted Budget indefinitely
suspended the CWS/Web Project due to the state's fiscal
crisis. Pursuant to legislative direction, DSS in
partnership with OSI, legislative staff, and other
stakeholders, issued the CWS Automation Study in April of
2012. This report contains an assessment of the business
needs of CWS, an assessment of the existing system, an
analysis of viable automated system options to meet the
critical business needs, communication from the federal
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government regarding SAWS redesign requirements, and a
recommendation on next steps, including a timeline and
implementation approach.
EBT . According to the OSI Web site, EBT is an electronic
system that automates the delivery, redemption, and
reconciliation of issued public assistance benefits. EBT
is the method for distributing CalFresh benefits (formerly
known as Food Stamps and currently known federally as the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits),
California Food Assistance Program benefits, and cash aid
benefits. EBT is currently used in all 50 states, the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and
Guam.
SFIS . According to the SFIS Web site, SFIS was developed
by OSI in conjunction with DSS. The system applies
state-of-the-art fingerprint-imaging technology to
eliminate duplicate aid in the California's public
assistance programs. The Los Angeles Automated Finger
Image Report and Match (AFIRM) system was the first
finger-imaging system to be used for a welfare application.
Based upon the success of AFIRM, the California
Legislature enacted the SFIS.
CMIPS . According to the OSI Web site, CMIPS tracks case
information and processes payments for DSS' In-Home
Supportive Services Program (IHSS), enabling nearly 400,000
qualified aged, blind, and disabled individuals in
California to remain in their own homes and avoid
institutionalization. The mission of the CMIPS II Project
is to award and administer a contract to develop,
implement, and maintain a follow-on system to the current
CMIPS system. The goal is to transition from the legacy
CMIPS to CMIPS II with no disruption in IHSS services.
EDD Unemployment Insurance Modernization Project .
According to EDD's Unemployment Insurance Program Business
Plan 2007-2012, the Unemployment Insurance Branch is
implementing a major modernization project that will
enhance service delivery, increase fraud detection and
program integrity, and build a more flexible and responsive
infrastructure to operate the unemployment insurance
program.
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California Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment, and
Retention System (Cal-HEERS) . According to the Exchange,
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010
requires states to create a simple way for individuals and
small businesses to obtain affordable health care coverage.
The Exchange, DHCS, and MRMIB, collectively serving as
Sponsoring Partners, plan to build Cal-HEERS, an
information technology (IT) system that will do the
following:
Serve as the consolidated IT support for eligibility,
enrollment, and retention for the Exchange, MediCal and
Healthy Families;
Help improve Californians access to affordable health
care coverage options;
Help make health care coverage more affordable;
Help improve the quality of health care; and
Help people make informed choices among health plan
options.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Minor costs to administer the Fund.
Annual costs of about $20,000 to the EDD to provide
required information to the Exchange (California Health
Trust Fund).
Annual costs of about $20,000 to the FTB to provide
require information to the Exchange, based on projected
costs the EDD for similar activities (California Health
Trust Fund).
The Exchange is currently funded with federal grant funds.
After 2015, the Exchange will be funded by fees charged to
health plans selling coverage through the Exchange.
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The Exchange indicates that the consolidated eligibility
and enrollment system, already under development, will be
able to incorporate information received from the EDD and
the FTB with no additional costs.
The only costs that would be imposed on a local government
relate to crimes and infractions. Such costs are not
reimbursable by the state under the California
Constitution.
CTW/DLW:k 8/15/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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