BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2308 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION Jose Medina, Chair AB 2308 (Roger Hernández) - As Introduced February 18, 2016 SUBJECT: Health care coverage: enrollment assistance SUMMARY: Establishes the California Health Care Coverage Enrollment Assistance Act of 2016, and requires the California State University (CSU) and the California Community Colleges (CCC) to provide specified information regarding health care coverage options to students. Specifically, this bill: 1)Removes the January 1, 2019, sunset date from existing law that requires public schools to provide parents or legal guardians with information regarding health care coverage options and assistance. 2)Requires, commencing with the 2017-18 academic year, each campus of the CSU and CCC to identify uninsured students and offer these students contact information for local entities to provide health care enrollment assistance and information about health care coverage options. 3)Authorizes CSU and CCC campuses to identify uninsured students through any of the following: AB 2308 Page 2 a) Adding health insurance screening questions and contact information for local health care enrollment assistance entities to its enrollment forms; b) Developing a screening method to identify uninsured students and offer these students contact information for local health care enrollment entities; and, c) Partnering with local organizations to ensure students who are identified as uninsured by the campus receive health care enrollment assistance. 4)Authorizes CSU and CCC campuses to provide uninsured students information about health care coverage options through either of the following: a) Using a template developed, as required, by the State Department of Education (SDE) that is made available on the SDE website by August 1, 2017, and upon request provided to the CSU and CCC campuses; or, b) Developing an informational item or amending existing enrollment forms or websites to provide uninsured students information about health care coverage options. 5)Authorizes a CSU or CCC campus to include a factsheet with its enrollment forms explaining basic information about affordable health care coverage options for students. 6)Prohibits a CSU or CCC campus from discriminating against a student who does not have health care coverage or use any AB 2308 Page 3 information related to a student's health care coverage in any manner that would bring harm to the student. 7)Provides for reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for implementation costs, should the Commission on State Mandates determine state mandated local costs are incurred by this bill. EXISTING LAW: 1)Establishes the California Health Benefit Exchange, known as Covered California, as an independent state entity to serve as the marketplace for Californians to purchase health care coverage and as a way to meet the personal responsibility requirements of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). 2)Requires school districts to add to enrollment forms, for the 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18 school years, information about health care coverage options and enrollment assistance. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. COMMENTS: Purpose of this bill. According to the author, the expansion of health care coverage options under the ACA generated approximately seven million newly eligible Californians as of January 1, 2014. Of those nearly 67% qualify for Medi-Cal. There is great opportunity to enroll the eligible; however, notable barriers exist for populations to enroll in health care coverage including lack of awareness about the programs, difficult application or re-enrollment processes, and stigmas associated with enrolling into low-income health insurance and other public programs. While the ACA has dramatically reduced the number of uninsured Californians, a significant number of the population has been left behind in the AB 2308 Page 4 absence of proactive and practical solutions. AB 2706 (Hernandez), Chapter 827, Statutes of 2014, requires the provision of health care coverage information to K-12 children and their families at the time of school enrollment. According to the author, it is a successful part of health care outreach using schools as a trusted messenger for helpful information about children's health and wellbeing. This bill would create a similar model for CCC and CSU campuses. According to the author, by capitalizing on local partnerships between CCC, CSU and local community resources, this bill will help thousands of eligible families and individuals enroll into health coverage. The author notes that research shows that California students who newly enroll in a health coverage program experience a nearly 63% improvement in performance and are therefore better prepared to succeed in a learning environment. CSU Health Insurance Education Project (HIEP). HIEP was a project established in 2013 to educate CSU students, their families, and campus staff about the ACA and the opportunity it offers many in the CSU community to get affordable health insurance. HIEP had representatives on 12 CSU campuses helping to educate students and their families about their healthcare options through a variety of activities, including classroom presentations, flyer distribution, enrollment events, and other outreach efforts. CSU HIEP officially concluded its outreach and education activities on February 28, 2015. According to survey results, HIEP provided outreach on 15 campuses, covering 87% of the total CSU student population. Poll results found that about 1/3 of CSU students on the campuses signed up for Covered California or Medi-Cal, and about 1/3 of students responded that at least one family member signed up for Covered Calfiornia or Medi-Cal. In total, the poll revealed that approximately 260,000 students and family members signed up for one of the two programs. AB 2308 Page 5 Education Committee jurisdiction. This bill removes the sunset date for the requirement in existing law that school districts add health care information to K-12 district enrollment forms. This change falls within the jurisdiction of the Education Committee and the Education Committee has requested to the Rules Committee to hear this bill. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees California Black Health Network California Children's Health Coverage Coalition California Coverage & Health Initiatives (sponsor) California Immigrant Policy Center California Primary Care Association California School Employees Association AB 2308 Page 6 The Children's Partnership Health Access California National Association of Social Workers-California Chapter Opposition None on File Analysis Prepared by:Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960