BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1580| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1580 Author: Bonilla (D) Amended: 8/9/12 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 6-3, 6/6/12 AYES: Hernandez, Alquist, De León, DeSaulnier, Rubio, Wolk NOES: Harman, Anderson, Blakeslee SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 47-24, 4/23/12 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Health care: eligibility: enrollment SOURCE : Western Center on Law and Poverty DIGEST : This bill makes technical and clarifying changes to AB 1296 (Bonilla), Chapter 641, Statutes of 2011, the Health Care Reform Eligibility, Enrollment, and Retention Planning Act (Act) relating to applications for state health subsidy programs. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/9/12 conform state law to a specific provision of federal regulations implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that allows people to apply to state health subsidy programs through commonly available electronic means, instead of through facsimile. Existing state law requires that individuals be provided the option to apply for state health subsidy CONTINUED AB 1580 Page 2 programs (such as the Medi-Cal Program and tax subsidies available through the California Health Benefit Exchange) in person, by mail, online, by telephone, or by facsimile. Federal regulations published in March 2012 to implement a parallel federal requirement in the Act use the phrase "through other commonly available electronic means" instead of the word "facsimile." These amendments make this parallel change in state law. ANALYSIS : Existing law: 1.Establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the Department of Health Care Services, to provide health care services and long-term care to pregnant women, children, and people who are aged, blind, and disabled. 2.Requires, under the Act, a single, accessible, standardized paper, electronic, and telephone application for state health subsidy programs to be developed by the Department of Health Care Services in consultation with the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board and the California Health Benefit Exchange board as part of a stakeholder process. Requires the application to be used by all entities authorized to make an eligibility determination for any of the state health subsidy programs and by their agents. 3.Makes certain limited categories of individuals presumptively eligible for Medi-Cal (children moving from Healthy Families to Medi-Cal and vice versa, comatose or amnesia patients arriving at a county health facility, individuals requiring treatment for breast or cervical cancer, and pregnant women), providing immediate and temporary Medi-Cal coverage. 4.Establishes, under the Act, requirements for the application for state health subsidy programs, including a requirement that an applicant be provided benefits in accordance with the rules of the state health subsidy program, as implemented in federal regulations and guidance for which he or she otherwise qualifies until a determination is made that he or she is not eligible and all applicable notices have been provided. CONTINUED AB 1580 Page 3 This bill: 1.Clarifies that nothing in a provision of the Act is to be interpreted to grant presumptive eligibility if it is not otherwise required by state law and if so required, then only to the extent permitted by federal law. 2.Narrows a provision of the Act that requires an individual screened as ineligible for Medi-Cal on the basis of Modified Adjusted Gross Income but who may be potentially eligible for Medi-Cal on another basis to have his or her application forwarded to the Medi-Cal program for an eligibility determination. Instead of this requirement applying to individuals who are potentially eligible on another basis, this bill limits the requirement that the application be forwarded to only those individuals who may be Medi-Cal-eligible on the basis of being 65 years of age or older or on the basis of blindness or disability. 3.Makes other technical and clarifying changes. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/12) Western Center on Law & Poverty (source) American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO California Immigrant Policy Center Children Now Children's Defense Fund-California The Children's Partnership Health Access California National Health Law Program United Way of California ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : This bill is sponsored by Western Center on Law & Poverty to fulfill the terms of an agreement made with the California Health and Human Services Agency staff to amend the language of AB 1296. The first clarification relates to a provision of the bill that states that an individual who is not eligible for CONTINUED AB 1580 Page 4 Medi-Cal based on Modified Adjusted Gross Income but "who may be potentially eligible for Medi-Cal on another basis shall have his or her application or case forwarded to the Medi-Cal program for an eligibility determination." The agency staff expressed a concern that this could be a broad group of people who would have to have a full Medi-Cal determination. The agency staff asked that the language specify and limit these populations to individuals who may be eligible on the basis of being age 65 or older or who are blind or disabled. The second change sought by the agency staff was that the bill language be clarified that one of its provisions does not grant presumptive Medi-Cal eligibility to any new populations. This bill contains both of these changes. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 47-24, 04/23/12 AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Buchanan, Butler, Campos, Carter, Chesbro, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Valadao, Wagner NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Brownley, Charles Calderon, Cedillo, Davis, Fletcher, Furutani, Nestande, Smyth CTW:n 8/15/12 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED