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
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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
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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
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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.