BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2308
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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:
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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