BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2346 Page 1 6Date of Hearing: May 18, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair AB 2346 (Baker) - As Amended March 31, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Human Services |Vote:|6 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill requires specified position statements related to state hearings to be made available electronically no less than two days prior to the date of a hearing. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires a public or private agency to make its position statement available through electronic means. 2)Requires the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to make its position statement available to the applicant, or recipient, and the Department of Social Services (DSS) through electronic means not less than two business days before the scheduled hearing. AB 2346 Page 2 3)Exempts a public or private agency from making a copy of its position statement available to an applicant or recipient through electronic means if the agency submits a report by December 31 of each year to DSS that includes agency- identified barriers to doing so and the steps the agency has taken to address these barriers.) FISCAL EFFECT: 1)Unknown, but potential costs to counties, not reimbursable, to make position statements available electronically or to write a report and submit it to DSS as to why they cannot. 2)Minor and absorbable costs to DSS to annually review any reports sent by public or private agencies explaining why they can't make position statements available electronically. 3)No fiscal impact to DSS regarding the development of the Appeals Case Management System (ACMS) project. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. According to the author, "Current law limits the availability of State hearing documents because the documents can only be picked up at the county welfare department. The inability to access hearing documents electronically imposes additional transportation costs on low-income persons, AB 2346 Page 3 especially those living in rural areas." While hearings are no longer conducted exclusively in person and may occur over the phone in some rural counties, applicants for, or recipients of, public social services must still drive to the county welfare office to obtain hearing materials. This bill seeks to address this issue by requiring public and private agencies to make hearing materials available electronically to recipients. 2)Background. Existing law allows an applicant or recipient of public social services to request a state hearing to contest an action taken by the county that the applicant or recipient believes is unjust or inappropriate, such as a recipient's denial of benefits, aid, or services, or denial of an applicant's program eligibility. Current law and regulations set forth timeframes for requesting a state hearing and adjudication of the complaint, in addition to county requirements to send notices pertaining to the hearing. DSS annually holds about 100,000 human services hearings regarding DSS services to claimants. About 10% or 10,000 cases are held in rural counties. Most rural county hearings are scheduled as telephone hearings to save DSS money by not requiring judges to drive to remote areas. While judges are not required to travel, claimants in these state hearings are required to go to their county department of social services in person to get a copy of the County's Statement of Position in preparation for a hearing. 3)The Appeals Case Management System (ACMS) Project. The ACMS for state fair hearings is being developed by OSI and scheduled to be implemented in 2018. The system will integrate intake, scheduling and reporting of cases. The ACMS will allow claimants and their authorized representatives, counties, AB 2346 Page 4 departments, respondents to hearings to securely upload and download documents, such as the Statement of Position. It will include a portal for individuals to request hearings, check their hearing/case status and access case information. The total budget of the project is $18.9 million (approximately $9.8 million GF) for FY 2014-15 through 1 year after implementation, FY 2019-20. The cost is allocated across programs for which DSS holds hearings by share of workload. Staff notes that when up and running, this system will be available to individuals to obtain hearing information, including obtaining electronically, the information required in this bill. The system will be available to counties, but they will not be required to use it. 4)County Options. In the meanwhile, to meet the requirements of this bill, an agency can implement its own electronic system using, for example, secure email or a secure website. Or, if an agency prefers to wait for ACMS, or is not equipped to implement a secure system, an agency can submit a report to DSS explaining why it is not able to provide documents electronically. There is no limit in the bill as to the number of years an agency may submit a report to DSS. It is unknown what option any particular public agency will choose and it will likely vary be county. Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 2346 Page 5