BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    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  
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            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  







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            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.








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           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

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