BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Carol Liu, Chair 2013-14 Regular Session BILL NO: AB 422 AUTHOR: Nazarian AMENDED: June 3, 2013 FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: June 12, 2013 URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lenin Del Castillo NOTE : This bill has been referred to the Committees on Education and Health. A "do pass" motion should include referral to the Committee on Health. SUBJECT : Notice of Health Care Coverage on School Lunch Applications. SUMMARY This bill requires information on additional health care coverage options to be included on the National School Lunch Program notifications that school districts may provide to students, effective January 1, 2014. BACKGROUND The State Department of Education oversees the largest child nutrition program in the country and administers over $2.3 billion in federal local assistance funding, supporting service of more than five million meals each day at over 45,000 sites through several programs, including the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The National School Lunch Program is a federally-funded entitlement program that is open to all children enrolled in public and private schools and residential child care institutions. Depending on the child's family size and income level, a student receives meals free, at a reduced price, or pays the full cost. This program uses donated commodity foods to help reduce the price of the lunches. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make applications for free or reduced price meals available to AB 422 Page 2 students at all times during each regular school day, as specified, and formulate a plan that will ensure that children eligible to receive free or reduced priced meals shall not be treated differently from other children. Existing law requires that in making applications for free or reduced-price meals, each school district and county superintendent of schools is encouraged to include information that parents may use to request information concerning Medi-Cal and the Healthy Families Program. At the option of the school district or county superintendent, the following information may be incorporated into the National School Lunch Program application packet or notification of eligibility: 1) A notification that if a child qualifies for free lunches, then the child may qualify for free or reduced-cost health coverage. 2) A request for the applicant's consent for the child to participate in the Medi-Cal program, if eligible for free school lunches, and to have the information on the school lunch application shared with the entity designated by the State Department of Health Care Services to make an accelerated determination and the local agency that determines eligibility under the Medi-Cal program. 3) A notification that the school district will not forward the school lunch application to the entity designated by the State Department of Health Care Services to make an accelerated determination and the local agency that determines eligibility under the Medi-Cal program, without the consent of the child's parent or guardian. 4) A notification that the school lunch application is confidential and, with the exception of forwarding the information for use in health program enrollment upon the consent of the child's parent or guardian, the school district will not share the information with any other governmental agency, including the federal Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. 5) A notification that the school lunch application AB 422 Page 3 information will only be used by the entity designated by the State Department of Health Care Services to make an accelerated determination and the state and local agencies that administer the Medi-Cal program for purposes directly related to the administration of the program and will not be shared with other government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration for any purpose other than the administration of the Medi-Cal program. 6) Information regarding the Medi-Cal program, including available services, program requirements, rights and responsibilities, and privacy and confidentiality requirements. ANALYSIS This bill requires the National School Lunch Program notifications, effective January 1, 2014, to do the following: 1) Advise the applicant that the applicant may be eligible for reduced-cost comprehensive health care coverage through the California Health Benefit Exchange. 2) Advise that, if the applicant's family income is low, the applicant may be eligible for no-cost coverage through Medi-Cal. 3) Provide the applicant with the contact information for the California Health Benefit Exchange, including its Web site and telephone number. 4) Comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.) and any other applicable federal or state disabled access law. This bill also provides that a school district may include the notifications as part of the existing parental notifications at the beginning of the first semester or quarter of the regular school term, as specified. STAFF COMMENTS Need for the bill : According to the author's office, millions of Californians lack healthcare coverage. Health AB 422 Page 4 problems are more likely to escalate with the lack of health insurance which affects a child's ability to learn and a parent's ability to work. The recent passage of the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 offers individuals and families additional health care coverage options, including expanded Medi-Cal coverage and tax subsidies to purchase health insurance through the California Health Benefit Exchange. According to the author's office, although children and families may be eligible for new coverage options, many of them may be unaware. The purpose of AB 422 is to minimize health problems arising from a lack of health coverage by requiring school districts to disseminate information regarding the availability of the additional health care coverage options in tandem with free and reduced-price lunch notifications. SUPPORT American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees California Chiropractic Association California Optometric Association California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (sponsor) California School Employees Association California State PTA California Teachers Association Health Access California Western Center on Law and Poverty OPPOSITION None on file.