BILL NUMBER: SB 695 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hancock
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section 14011.10 of, and to add Section 14011.11
to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to Medi-Cal.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 695, as introduced, Hancock. Medi-Cal: county juvenile
detention facilities.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under
which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services.
The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal
Medicaid Program provisions. Under existing law, an inmate of a
public institution who is under 21 year of age is ineligible to
receive Medi-Cal benefits for a specified period of time.
This bill, subject to the receipt of federal financial
participation, would provide that Medi-Cal benefits may be provided
to an individual awaiting adjudication in a county juvenile detention
facility if the individual is eligible to receive Medi-Cal benefits
at the time he or she is admitted to the detention facility, or the
individual is subsequently determined to be eligible for Medi-Cal
benefits, and the county agrees to pay the state's share of Medi-Cal
expenditures and the state's administrative costs for the
above-described benefits. This bill would provide for continuation of
the Medi-Cal benefits until the date of the individual's
adjudication. This bill would set forth specified conditions that
would affect the implementation of the above-described provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 14011.10 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
is amended to read:
14011.10. (a) Benefits Except as provided
in Section 14011.11, benefits provided under this chapter to
an individual under 21 years of age who is an inmate of a public
institution shall be suspended in accordance with Section 1396d(a)
(28)(A) of Title 42 of the United States Code as provided in
subdivision (c).
(b) County welfare departments shall be required to
notify the department within 10 days of receiving
information that an individual under 21 years of age on Medi-Cal in
the county is or will be an inmate of a public institution.
(c) If an individual under 21 years of age is a Medi-Cal
beneficiary on the date he or she becomes an inmate of a public
institution, his or her benefits under this chapter and under Chapter
8 (commencing with Section 14200) shall be suspended effective the
date he or she becomes an inmate of a public institution. The
suspension will shall end on the date
he or she is no longer an inmate of a public institution or one year
from the date he or she becomes an inmate of a public institution,
whichever is sooner.
(d) Nothing in this section shall create a state-funded benefit or
program. Health care services under this chapter and Chapter 8
(commencing with Section 14200) shall not be available to inmates of
public institutions whose Medi-Cal benefits have been suspended under
this section.
(e) This section shall be implemented only if and to the extent
allowed by federal law. This section shall be implemented only to the
extent that any necessary federal approval of state plan amendments
or other federal approvals are obtained.
(f) If any part of this section is in conflict with or does not
comply with federal law, this entire section shall be inoperable.
(g) This section shall be implemented on January 1, 2010, or the
date when all necessary federal approvals are obtained, whichever is
later.
(h) By January 1, 2010, or the date when all necessary federal
approvals are obtained, whichever is later, the department, in
consultation with the Chief Probation Officers of California and the
County Welfare Directors Association, shall establish the protocols
and procedures necessary to implement this section, including any
needed changes to the protocols and procedures previously established
to implement Section 14029.5.
(i) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the
department shall implement this section by means of all-county
letters or similar instructions without taking regulatory action.
Thereafter, the department shall adopt regulations in accordance with
the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SEC. 2. Section 14011.11 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
14011.11. (a) To the extent that federal financial participation
is available, Medi-Cal benefits may be provided to an individual
awaiting adjudication in a county juvenile detention facility if both
of the following requirements are met:
(1) The individual is eligible to receive Medi-Cal benefits at the
time the individual is admitted to the juvenile detention facility
or the individual is subsequently determined to be eligible for
Medi-Cal benefits.
(2) The county agrees to pay the state's share of Medi-Cal
expenditures and the state's administrative costs for benefits under
this section.
(b) Benefits available pursuant to this section shall continue
until the date of the individual's adjudication.
(c) This section shall not be construed to require a county to pay
the state's share of Medi-Cal expenditures or the state's
administrative costs for Medi-Cal benefits that the state is
obligated to provide pursuant to an administrative action or court
order that is final and no longer subject to appeal.
(d) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the
department may implement and administer this section by means of
all-county letters or similar instructions without taking regulatory
action. Thereafter, the department shall adopt regulations in
accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(e) This section shall be implemented only if, and to the extent
that, both of the following occur:
(1) The department receives written confirmation from the federal
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that federal financial
participation is available to implement this section pursuant to
Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1396 et
seq.).
(2) The director executes a declaration that states that
implementation of this section will not jeopardize the state's
ability to receive federal financial participation or any increase in
federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) available on or after
October 1, 2008, or additional federal funds that the director, in
consultation with the Department of Finance, has determined would be
advantageous to the state. The director shall retain the original
declaration and post the declaration on the department's Internet Web
site.
(f) (1) If at any time the director determines that the statement
in the declaration executed pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision
(e) may no longer be accurate, the director shall give notice to the
Joint Legislative Budget Committee and to the Department of Finance.
Thereafter, if the director determines, in consultation with the
Department of Finance, that it is necessary to cease implementation
of this section in order to receive federal financial participation
or any increase in FMAP available on or after October 1, 2008, or
additional federal funds that the director, in consultation with the
Department of Finance, has determined would be advantageous to the
state, the director shall cease implementation of this section, and
shall execute a declaration to that effect. The director shall retain
the original declaration and post the declaration on the department'
s Internet Web site.
(2) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the
department may implement paragraph (1) by means of all-county letters
or similar instructions, without taking regulatory action.
(g) If this section is implemented pursuant to subdivision (e), it
shall be implemented commencing on the date that both conditions
described in subdivision (e) have been satisfied.