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 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 346 Author: Beall (D) Amended: 9/6/13 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 SENATE FLOOR : 26-11, 4/29/13 AYES: Beall, Block, Calderon, Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Monning, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Roth, Steinberg, Wolk, Wright, Yee NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Huff, Knight, Nielsen, Walters, Wyland NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu, Vacancy, Vacancy ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available SUBJECT : Public social services: records SOURCE : Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors DIGEST : This bill includes within the definition of "public social services," publicly funded health care services CONTINUED SB 346 Page 2 administered or supervised by the Department of Social Services (DSS) or the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), except as specified. This bill clarifies existing law. Assembly Amendments narrow the scope of this bill to clarifying the definition of "public social services" and make other, technical changes. ANALYSIS : Existing law: 1.Requires all applications and records concerning any 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 DSS or 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. CONTINUED SB 346 Page 3 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, to provide specified health care services to medically indigent persons. This bill: 1.Includes within the definition of "public social services," publicly funded health care services administered or supervised by DSS or DHCS, except that, for purposes of this bill, the term does not include the Medi-Cal program. 2.Clarifies that this definition does not affect or alter the exclusions contained in existing law, as specified. 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 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 CONTINUED SB 346 Page 4 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. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 9/10/13) Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors (source) California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems California Food Policy Advocates California State Association of Counties County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors County Welfare Directors Association of California Lassen County Administrative Services LIUNA Locals 777 & 792 Urban Counties Caucus ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Existing law allows applications and applicant records to be shared with other public agencies for the purpose of establishing eligibility for, or administering, public social services. Some counties have interpreted this as authority to share client information between their health and social services departments. However, the bill's sponsor, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, sees the current confidentiality requirements, which explicitly allow information sharing to take place between county welfare departments, without any mention of other county departments or agencies, as barriers that prohibit the exchange of information even when the information would be shared for the client's benefit. According to the bill's sponsor, system interoperability within counties is essential in providing clients timely access to the services for which they are eligible. The author states, "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 LIHP. As we look to implement the Affordable Care Act, which includes an emphasis on having no wrong door, we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make enrollment in health and CONTINUED SB 346 Page 5 human services programs as easy as possible for clients. SB 346 would further this goal." RM/JL:ej 9/10/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED