Amended in Senate June 3, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 422


Introduced by Assembly Member Nazarian

February 15, 2013


An act to amend Section 49557.2 of the Education Code, relating to public schools.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 422, as amended, Nazarian. begin deleteHealth end deletebegin insertSchool lunch program applications: health end insertcarebegin delete applications.end deletebegin insert notice.end insert

Existing law creates various programs to provide health care services to persons who have limited incomes and meet various eligibility requirements. These programs include the Healthy Families Program administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, and the Medi-Cal program administered by the State Department of Health Care Services.

Existing law provides for a school lunch program under which eligible pupils receive free or reduced-price meals. Existing law authorizes the sharing of the school lunch program application with the county agency administering the Medi-Cal program for use in making an accelerated Medi-Cal eligibility determination for pupils eligible for free meals. Existing law provides for the sending of a Healthy Families Program application to pupils determined to be ineligible for Medi-Cal coverage.

This bill would, commencing January 1, 2014, require the notices to include prescribed advisements about the availability of free or reduced-cost comprehensive health care coverage through Medi-Cal or the California Health Benefit Exchange, respectively.begin insert The bill would authorize a school district also to include the notices in certain notifications required at the beginning of the first semester or quarter of the regular school term.end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 49557.2 of the Education Code is
2amended to read:

3

49557.2.  

(a) (1) At the option of the school district or county
4superintendent, and to the extent necessary to implement Section
514005.41 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the following
6information may be incorporated into the School Lunch Program
7application packet or notification of eligibility for the School Lunch
8Program using simple and culturally appropriate language:

9(A) A notification that if a child qualifies for free school lunches,
10then the child may qualify for free or reduced-cost health coverage.

11(B) A request for the applicant’s consent for the child to
12participate in the Medi-Cal program, if eligible for free school
13lunches, and to have the information on the school lunch
14application shared with the entity designated by the State
15Department of Health Care Services to make an accelerated
16determination and the local agency that determines eligibility under
17the Medi-Cal program.

18(C) A notification that the school district will not forward the
19school lunch application to the entity designated by the State
20Department of Health Care Services to make an accelerated
21determination and the local agency that determines eligibility under
22the Medi-Cal program, without the consent of the child’s parent
23or guardian.

24(D) A notification that the school lunch application is
25confidential and, with the exception of forwarding the information
26for use in health program enrollment upon the consent of the child’s
27parent or guardian, the school district will not share the information
28with any other governmental agency, including the federal
29Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security
30Administration.

31(E) A notification that the school lunch application information
32will only be used by the entity designated by the State Department
33of Health Care Services to make an accelerated determination and
P3    1the state and local agencies that administer the Medi-Cal program
2for purposes directly related to the administration of the program
3and will not be shared with other government agencies, including
4the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security
5Administration for any purpose other than the administration of
6the Medi-Cal program.

7(F) Information regarding the Medi-Cal program, including
8available services, program requirements, rights and
9responsibilities, and privacy and confidentiality requirements.

10(2) The State Department of Education, in consultation with
11school districts, county superintendents of schools, consumer
12advocates, counties, the State Department of Health Care Services,
13and other stakeholders, shall make recommendations regarding
14the School Lunch Program application, on or before February 1,
152003. The recommendations shall include specific changes to the
16School Lunch Program application materials as necessary to
17implement Section 14005.41 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
18information for staff as to how to implement the changes, and a
19description of the process by which information on the School
20Lunch Program application will be shared with the county, as the
21local agency that determines eligibility under the Medi-Cal
22program.

23(3) At the option of the school, the request for consent in
24subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) may be modified so that the
25parent or guardian can also consent to allowing Medi-Cal to inform
26the school as provided in subdivision (n) of Section 14005.41 of
27the Welfare and Institutions Code when followup is needed in
28order to complete the Medi-Cal application process.

29(b) (1) School districts and county superintendents of schools
30may implement a process to share information provided on the
31School Lunch Program application with the entity designated by
32the State Department of Health Care Services to make an
33accelerated determination and with the local agency that determines
34eligibility under the Medi-Cal program, and shall share this
35information with those entities, if the applicant consents to that
36sharing of information. Schools may designate, only as necessary
37to implement this section, non-food service staff to assist in the
38administration of free, reduced price, or paid school lunch
39applications that have applicant consent, but only if that designation
40does not displace or have an adverse effect on food service staff.
P4    1This information may be shared electronically, physically, or
2through whatever method is determined appropriate.

3(2) If a school is aware that a child, who has been found eligible
4for free school lunches under the National School Lunch Program,
5and for whom the parent or guardian has consented to share the
6information provided on the application, already has an active
7Medi-Cal or Healthy Families case, the application shall not be
8processed for an accelerated determination but shall be forwarded
9to the local agency that determines eligibility under the Medi-Cal
10program pursuant to Section 14005.41 of the Welfare and
11Institutions Code. The school shall notify the parent or guardian
12of the child’s ineligibility forbegin insert anend insert accelerated Medi-Cal
13begin insert determinationend insert due to the current eligibility status and that the
14child’s application will be forwarded to the county pursuant to this
15section. The notice shall include a statement, with contact
16information, advising the parent or guardian to contact the
17Medi-Cal or Healthy Families programs regarding the child’s
18eligibility status.

19(3) Each school district or county superintendent that chooses
20to share information pursuant to this subdivision shall enter into
21a memorandum of understanding with the local agency that
22determines eligibility under the Medi-Cal program, that sets forth
23the roles and responsibilities of each agency and the process to be
24used in sharing the information.

25(4) The local agency that determines eligibility under the
26Medi-Cal program shall only use information provided by
27applicants on the school lunch application for purposes directly
28related to the administration of the Medi-Cal program.

29(5) After school districts share information regarding the school
30lunch application with the entity designated by the State
31Department of Health Care Services to make an accelerated
32determination and the local agency that determines eligibility under
33the Medi-Cal program, for the purpose of determining Medi-Cal
34program eligibility, the local agency and the school district shall
35not share information about school lunch participation or the
36Medi-Cal program eligibility information with each other except
37as specifically authorized under subdivision (n) of Section
3814005.41 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and other provisions
39of law.

P5    1(c) Effective July 1, 2005, the notifications and consent
2referenced in subdivision (a) and the procedures set out in
3subdivision (b) shall include the Healthy Families Program and
4any relevant county- and local-sponsored health insurance programs
5as necessary to implement Section 14005.41 of the Welfare and
6Institutions Code.

7(d) Effective January 1, 2014, the notificationsbegin insert referenced in
8subdivisionend insert
begin insert (a)end insert shall do all of the following:

9(1) Advise the applicant that the applicant may be eligible for
10begin delete reduced-cost,end deletebegin insert reduced-costend insert comprehensive health care coverage
11through the California Health Benefit Exchange.

12(2) Advise that, if thebegin insert applicant’send insert family income is low, the
13applicant may be eligible for no-cost coverage through Medi-Cal.

14(3) Provide the applicant with the contact information for the
15California Health Benefit Exchange, including its Internet Web
16site and telephone number.

begin insert

17(4) Comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of
181990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.) and any other applicable
19federal or state disabled access law.

end insert
begin delete

20(d)

end delete

21begin insert(e)end insert If a school district finds that the child is eligible for reduced
22price or paid meals under the National School Lunch Program and
23consent was provided as described in subdivision (b), the entity
24designated by the State Department of Health Care Services to
25make an accelerated determination shall notify the parent or
26guardian of the child’s ineligibility for an accelerated Medi-Cal
27determination pursuant to Section 14005.41 of the Welfare and
28Institutions Code. The notification shall include information on
29other available health programs for which the child may be eligible.

begin insert

30(f) A school district may also include the notifications in the
31notifications at the beginning of the first semester or quarter of
32the regular school term required pursuant to Section 48980.

end insert


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