BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                 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  
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          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.

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          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
           

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          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  

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          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

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