BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 294
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
294 (Lackey and Steinorth)
As Amended June 15, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | 77-0 | (April 30, |SENATE: |38-0 | (August 20, |
| | |2015) | | |2015) |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY: Requires any department within the California Health
and Human Services Agency (CHHSA) to post on the first page of
its Web site information about any federally approved state plan
or waiver of federal laws or regulations.
The Senate amendments add coauthors and make technical,
non-substantive changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Creates the CHHSA with its 10 constituent departments and a
number of other offices and entities.
2)Requires or authorizes state agencies to develop state plans
and waiver proposals for submission to the federal government,
consistent with federal law. Existing federal law provides
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for required state plans to implement federal programs and
grants federal agencies authority in specified circumstances
to waive applicable portions of federal law. In particular,
states may be granted waivers of federal law to implement
demonstration projects in their Medicaid programs.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: According to the author, this bill will increase
transparency for programs administered within CHHSA. Many of
these programs are federal programs partially or fully funded
with federal funds and operating under federal requirements.
According to the author, frequently the federal government will
require the designated state agency to submit a state plan for
the operation of the program. In addition, states often obtain
federal waivers as they test more innovative approaches to
implementing federal law. The author argues this bill would
increase transparency and government accountability for these
programs by requiring that the administering departments within
CHHSA place a copy of the approved state plans and waivers on
the front page of the department's Web site. The author
concludes that this will allow the public to gain knowledge of
the programs and improve CHHSA's abilities to provide critical
services to Californians.
According to the Coalition of California Welfare Rights
Organizations, this bill's sponsor, is needed because in certain
cases the only way for the public to access the details of a
federal waiver is through a public information request. The
supporters note that this bill would not only improve
transparency to the public, but also save valuable resources for
departments by taking away the need for public information
requests. Supporters also note that some departments within
CHHSA already post approved waivers on their Web sites, such as
Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) which posts Medi-Cal
waivers, however, other departments such as Department of Social
Services do not post waivers.
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The Western Center on Law and Poverty (WCLP) supports this bill,
noting that the plans and waivers are available through public
records act requests but are not readily accessible to the
public. WCLP argues that this bill will make these documents
more accessible to the public and make these government programs
more transparent and work better for the people they serve.
Of particular importance for health policy, is the proposed
Medicaid waiver request for the Medi-Cal program. Medicaid
(known as Medi-Cal in California) is a joint federal-state
program to provide health coverage to low-income individuals.
Section 1115 of the federal Social Security Act (Act) gives the
Secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) authority to waive provisions of major health and welfare
programs authorized under the Act. This includes certain
federal Medicaid requirements in any experimental pilot or
demonstration project which, in the judgment of the HHS
Secretary, is likely to assist in promoting the objectives of
Medicaid. In addition, Section 1115 also allows states to use
federal Medicaid funds to reimburse for costs in ways that are
not otherwise allowed under federal Medicaid law. DHCS has
submitted a waiver application to the federal government for
consideration.
There is no opposition on file.
Analysis Prepared by:
Roger Dunstan / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097 FN: 0001202
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