BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 346| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 346 Author: Beall (D) Amended: 4/2/13 Vote: 21 SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-2, 4/9/13 AYES: Yee, Evans, Liu, Wright NOES: Berryhill, Emmerson SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/23/13 AYES: Evans, Corbett, Jackson, Leno, Monning NOES: Walters, Anderson SUBJECT : Public social services: records SOURCE : Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors DIGEST : This bill provides, for the purpose of complying with confidentiality rules governing public social services, that if a county administers public social services through more than one county department or agency, each department or agency administering a public social service shall be deemed a county welfare department for purposes of administering that public social service. ANALYSIS : Existing law: 1.Requires all applications and records concerning any CONTINUED SB 346 Page 2 individual made or kept in connection with the administration of any form of public social services to be confidential, except as specified. 2.Provides that the above requirement shall not prohibit the furnishing of this information to other public agencies to the extent required for verifying eligibility of for other purposes directly connected with the administration of public social services. 3.Defines "public social services" to mean activities and functions of state and local government administered or supervised by the State Department of Social Services or the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and involved in providing aid or services or both, including health care services and medical assistance, to those people of the state who, because of their economic circumstances or social condition, are in need thereof and may benefit thereby. 4.Establishes the duty of a county or a city and county to provide health care services to indigent and dependent poor persons, also known as Medically Indigent Adults (MIAs), when such persons are not supported and relieved by their relatives or friends, by their own means, or by state hospitals or other state or private institutions. 5.Establishes the Low Income Health Program (LIHP) as a federal Medicaid demonstration project, and requires the DHCS to authorize local LIHPs to provide specified health care services to eligible individuals 19 to 64 years of age who are not otherwise eligible for the Medi-Cal program or the Children's Health Insurance Program with family incomes at or below 133% of the federal poverty level. 6.Permits a county board of supervisors of any county with a population of less than 300,000 to elect to participate in the County Medical Services Program (CMSP), to provide specified health care services to medically indigent persons. This bill: 1.Provides, for the purpose of complying with confidentiality rules governing public social services, that if a county administers public social services through more than one SB 346 Page 3 county department or agency, each department or agency administering a public social service shall be deemed a county welfare department for purposes of administering that public social service. 2.Clarifies, for the purposes of complying with confidentiality rules governing public social services, and except pertaining to Medi-Cal, that "public social services" includes publicly funded health care services. Background Confidentiality of Public Social Services Existing law, provides that all applications and records concerning applicants of any public social service shall be confidential, except that such information may be shared with other public agencies for the purpose of verifying eligibility or for other purposes directly connected with the administration of public social services. These confidentiality requirements explicitly exclude Medi-Cal, since that program is accountable to various other federal and state privacy protections. Existing Eligibility Systems The Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) is a federally required database that supports eligibility and enrollment determinations for a variety of public social service programs. Additionally, many counties utilize the One-e-App system which screens for eligibility for the majority of public social service programs including Medi-Cal, GA, Medically Indigent Programs, CalWORKS, CalFresh, and others. Prior Legislation AB 402 (Skinner, Chapter 504, Statutes of 2011) authorizes school districts and county offices of education to share information provided on the School Lunch program application with the local agency that determines CalFresh program eligibility, as provided. SB 346 Page 4 FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 4/26/13) Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors (source) California State Association of Counties ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, SB 346 allows county human services departments to more easily share client eligibility information with county health departments in order to simplify enrollment in public health care coverage programs such as the Low-Income Health Program or the county Medically Indigent Services Program. The bill's sponsor, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, states that its county Social Services Agency determines eligibility for Medi-Cal and other social service benefits such as General Assistance, while the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System is responsible to administer the county's LIHP and its Medically Indigent Services Program, known locally as the Ability to Pay Determination Program. The Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System, screens approximately 7,000 patients per month for public health coverage programs, including Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and the Low Income Health Program. The social services agency staff process approximately 3,000 Medi-Cal applications per month. RM/JL:ej 4/26/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****