BILL NUMBER: SB 1002 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator De León
(Coauthor: Senator Anderson)
FEBRUARY 13, 2014
An act to amend Section 14005.37 of
14005.66 of, and to add Section 18901.05 to, the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to Medi-Cal.
low-income individuals.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1002, as amended, De León. Medi-Cal: redetermination.
Low-income individuals: eligibility determinations.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under
which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services.
The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal
Medicaid Program provisions.
Existing law generally requires a county to redetermine a Medi-Cal
beneficiary's eligibility to receive Medi-Cal benefits every 12
months and whenever the county receives information about changes in
a beneficiary's circumstances that may affect his or her eligibility
for Medi-Cal benefits. Under existing law, when a redetermination is
performed due to a change in circumstances, if a county determines
that the beneficiary remains eligible for Medi-Cal benefits, the
county must begin a new 12-month eligibility period.
This bill would require a county, when a redetermination is
performed due to a change in circumstances, and the county received
or gathered the information about the change in circumstance during a
CalFresh application or recertification, and the beneficiary is
determined eligible to receive CalFresh benefits, to begin the new
12-month Medi-Cal eligibility period on a date that would align the
beneficiary's Medi-Cal eligibility period with his or her household
CalFresh certification period. The bill would also require a county,
in certain circumstances, to begin a new 12-month Medi-Cal
eligibility period that would align a beneficiary's Medi-Cal
eligibility period with his or her CalFresh household certification
period. The bill would provide that these provisions only be
implemented to the extent permitted by federal law and to the extent
that they do not violate federal Medicaid maintenance of effort
rules. By imposing additional duties on counties, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh,
formerly the Food Stamp Program, under which supplemental nutrition
assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government
are distributed to eligible individuals by each county.
Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services
to seek any federal waivers necessary to use eligibility information
of certain individuals who have been determined eligible for the
CalFresh program to determine their eligibility for Medi-Cal.
This bill would also require the State Department of Health Care
Services to seek any federal waivers necessary to use eligibility
information of certain individuals who have been determined eligible
for the CalFresh program to redetermine their eligibility for
Medi-Cal. The bill would similarly require the State Department of
Social Services to seek any federal waivers necessary to use
eligibility information of individuals who have been determined
eligible for the Medi-Cal program to determine or redetermine their
eligibility for CalFresh eligibility. The bill would require the
State Department of Social Services to consult with stakeholders in
the implementation of this provision and would authorize the State
Department of Social Services to implement this provision by means of
all-county letters or similar instructions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The
Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Approximately 35 percent of Medi-Cal recipients are
potentially eligible to receive CalFresh benefits, but are not
currently receiving those benefits.
(2) Only 77 percent of CalFresh recipients are currently enrolled
in Medi-Cal despite the fact that the eligibility income threshold
for Medi-Cal is higher than it is for CalFresh.
(3) Recent collaboration between the State Department of Social
Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, and county
human services agencies has resulted in the Express Lane Enrollment
Project, which is an effort to utilize information in a CalFresh case
file to determine eligibility for Medi-Cal. The Express Lane
Enrollment Project has been very successful, resulting in more than
222,000 CalFresh recipients being enrolled into Medi-Cal.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to
streamline enrollment and eligibility certification processes and
procedures for CalFresh and Medi-Cal, both at initial enrollment and
at renewal, to improve access to CalFresh and Medi-Cal, and to reduce
administrative burdens on county agencies and applicant households.
SEC. 2. Section 14005.66 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code is amended to read:
14005.66. The department shall seek any federal waivers necessary
to use the eligibility information of individuals who have been
determined eligible for the CalFresh program under Chapter 10
(commencing with Section 18900) of Part 6, and who are under 65 years
of age and are not disabled, to determine or redetermine
their Medi-Cal eligibility.
SEC. 3. Section 18901.05 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code , to read:
18901.05. (a) The department shall seek any federal waivers
necessary to use the eligibility information of individuals who have
been determined eligible for Medi-Cal under Chapter 7 (commencing
with Section 14000) of Part 3 to determine or redetermine their
CalFresh eligibility.
(b) The department shall consult with stakeholders in the
implementation of this section.
(c) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the
Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code),
the department shall implement this section by all-county letters or
similar instructions. All matter omitted in this version of the
bill appears in the bill as amended in the Senate, March 28, 2014.
(JR11)