BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2308
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
2308 (Roger Hernández)
As Amended June 28, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(June 2, 2016) |SENATE: | 28-9 |(August 17, |
| |56-24 | | | |2016) |
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Original Committee Reference: HIGHER ED.
SUMMARY: Extends, from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2021, the
sunset date in existing law that requires public schools to
provide parents or legal guardians with information regarding
health care coverage options and assistance; and, requires the
California State University (CSU) and the California Community
Colleges (CCC) to provide specified information regarding
insurance affordability programs, including how to apply for
Medi-Cal and Covered California.
The Senate amendments remove the term "health care options" and
instead require CSU and CCC to provide information regarding
"insurance affordability programs, including how to apply for
Medi-Cal and Covered California".
EXISTING LAW:
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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: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)Unknown costs for additional enrollment in Medi-Cal (General
Fund and federal funds). Giving CSU and CCC students and
continuing to provide K-12 parents information about the
availability of Medi-Cal coverage may encourage some consumers
to opt to apply for Medi-Cal, as intended. The extent to
which this will occur is unknown. This effect may be small,
given the significant public awareness of access to coverage
through Covered California and Medi-Cal following the
implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the imposition
of an individual mandate to have health care coverage.
However, even a very small overall increase in Medi-Cal
enrollment would have a significant fiscal impact since the
cost to provide coverage to an adult in Medi-Cal ranges from
about $1,200 per year to $6,000 per year (General Fund and
federal funds).
2)CSU anticipates one-time costs of $50,000 General Fund in
staff time to comply with this bill.
3)The CCCs anticipate minor costs for campuses to comply with
this bill.
4)Continuation of likely minor, reimbursable state mandate costs
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for schools to provide information about health care coverage
options and enrollment assistance on school enrollment forms.
Without this bill, this requirement would sunset after the
2017-18 school year. See staff comments. (Proposition 98)
COMMENTS: 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 absence of proactive and practical
solutions.
AB 2706 (Hernández), 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.
Analysis Prepared by:
Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN:
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