Amended in Senate May 28, 2013

Amended in Senate April 24, 2013

Senate Bill No. 800

Introduced by Senator Lara

February 22, 2013

An act to add Section 14005.275 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to health begin insert , and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately end insert .

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 800, as amended, Lara. California Health Benefit Exchange: outreach services.

Existing law creates various programs to provide health care services to persons who have limited incomes and meet various eligibility requirements. These programs include the Healthy Families Program administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, and the Medi-Cal program administered by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law provides for the transition of specified enrollees of the Healthy Families Program to the Medi-Cal program, to the extent that those individuals are otherwise eligible.

Existing law establishes the California Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange), and requires the board governing the Exchange to facilitate the purchase of qualified health plans through the Exchange by qualified individuals and small employers by January 1, 2014. Existing law also requires the board to undertake activities necessary to market and publicize the availability of health care coverage and federal subsidies through the Exchange and to undertake outreach and enrollment activities.

This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to provide the Exchange with specified contact information of individuals who are not enrolled in Medi-Cal but who are the parents or caretakers of children enrolled in the Healthy Families Program or the Medi-Cal program due to a transition from the Healthy Families Program, as specified, for purposes of assisting the Exchange to conduct outreach to individuals potentially eligible for a state health subsidy program, as defined.

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This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

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Vote:  begin delete majority end delete begin insert ²⁄₃ end insert . Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 14005.275 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, immediately following Section 14005.27, to
read:

14005.275.  

In order to assist the California Health Benefit
Exchange, established pursuant to Title 22 (commencing with
Section 100500) of the Government Code, to conduct outreach to
individuals potentially eligible for a state health subsidy program,
as defined in Section 15926, the department shall provide the
California Health Benefit Exchange, or its designee, with the
names, addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, or other
contact information, and written and spoken languages of
individuals who are not enrolled in Medi-Cal but are the parents
or caretakers of children enrolled in the Healthy Families Program
or the Medi-Cal program pursuant to Section 14005.27.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

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To ensure that individuals who are eligible for state health
subsidy programs receive information about those programs before
the California Health Benefit Exchange will begin making health
care coverage available in January 2014, it is necessary that this
bill take effect immediately.

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