BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES Senator McGuire, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 2346 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Baker | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |----------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------------| |Version: |March 31, 2016 |Hearing | June 28, 2016 | | | |Date: | | |----------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------------| |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ---------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant|Taryn Smith | |: | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Public social services: hearings 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, unless specified steps are taken by a county. ABSTRACT Existing law: 1)Requires the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to hold a fair hearing in the event that an applicant for or recipient of public social services is dissatisfied with any action of a county department, as specified. (WIC) 10950 et seq.) 2)Requires an applicant for or recipient of public social services to file his or her request for a hearing within 90 days after the order or action on which the request for a hearing is based. (WIC 10951) 3)Requires the department to set the hearing within 30 working AB 2346 (Baker) Page 2 of ? days after the request is filed, and to notify all parties at least 10 days prior to the hearing of the time and place of the hearing. (WIC 10952) 4)Requires a public or private agency to make available a mandated position statement concerning issues raised at the hearing not less than two working days prior to the date of a hearing, and further requires that the private or public agency make a copy of the agency's position statement available to the applicant or recipient at the county welfare department. (WIC 10952.5) 5)Mandates that, if a public or private agency does not make the position statement available not less than two working days prior to the hearing or the agency decides to modify the position statement, the hearing shall be postponed upon the request of the applicant or recipient. (WIC 10952.5) 6)Exempts DHCS from requirements to make position statements available. (WIC 10952.5) 7)Limits the issues at a state hearing to those that are reasonably related to the request for hearing or other issues that have been identified by either party and mutually agreed upon, as specified. (WIC 10958.1) 8)Provides that a hearing award, if the decision is in favor of the applicant or recipient, shall be determined within 30 days of the date of the hearing decision, and requires the county and the claimant to be notified of the determination regarding the county's compliance with the decision. (WIC 10961) This bill: AB 2346 (Baker) Page 3 of ? 1)Requires a public or private agency to make its position statement available at the county welfare office and through electronic means. 2)Requires the DHCS to make its position statement available to the applicant or recipient and to the CDSS through electronic means not less than two business days before the scheduled hearing. 3)Stipulates that a public or private agency is not required to make a copy of its position statement available electronically if it has submitted a report to the CDSS detailing the barriers to providing position statements electronically, and what steps the agency is taking to address these barriers. 4)Makes other technical changes. FISCAL IMPACT According the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill may result in unknown, but potential costs to counties which are not reimbursable. The bill may also generate minor and absorbable costs to CDSS to annually review any reports sent by public or private agencies explaining why they can't make position statements available electronically. The analysis projects no fiscal impact to CDSS regarding development of the Appeals Case Management System project. BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION Purpose of the bill: 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 offices. This inability to access hearing documents electronically imposes additional transportation costs on low-income persons, especially those AB 2346 (Baker) Page 4 of ? living in rural areas, per the author. Public social services - state hearings State laws and regulations define the benefits and services provided to low-income individuals and families that receive public social services from programs for which state hearings can be requested. These programs include, but are not limited to, CalWORKs, CalFresh, the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment, Medi-Cal, and California Assistance Program for Immigrants. These programs are generally administered at the county level. Under current law, an applicant or recipient of public social services can request a state hearing if they are dissatisfied with any action of the county relating to his or her application or receipt of public social services. An applicant can also request a hearing if the application is not acted upon with reasonable promptness. 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. Applicants and recipients must file a request with the CDSS or the DHCS, whichever department administers the public social service. CDSS's State Hearings Division is responsible for conducting these hearings in order to resolve disputes of applicants and recipients of public social services in an impartial, independent, fair, and timely manner, while ensuring that due process is met in accordance with federal and state law. Data provided by CDSS shows that the State Hearings Division is projected to receive more than 100,000 requests for hearings in FY 2015-16 and FY 2016-17. Appeals Case Management System According to CDSS, the secure electronic notifications technology called for in AB 2346 will be available on a statewide basis when CDSS's new Appeals Case Management System (ACMS) is launched. CDSS and the Office of System Integration are currently working to develop the ACMS which will allow claimants, their authorized representatives, counties, departments, and respondents to securely upload and download AB 2346 (Baker) Page 5 of ? documents, such as the Statement of Position. The new system is reportedly designed to meet Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and language requirements. It will include a portal for individuals to request hearings, check their hearing or case status and access case information. ACMS is currently projected to launch in mid-2018 and will integrate intake, scheduling and reporting of cases. COMMENTS: Current law does not prohibit or require position statements to be made available electronically or via US mail. However, some counties provide positions statements via email upon request. Additionally, DHCS reports that its procedures call for mailing position statements via certified US mail 10 days prior to a hearing. The following amendments are suggested in response to concerns that the bill would require counties and state agencies to provide personal identifying information and other sensitive information via electronic means might jeopardize privacy rights and potentially violate HIPPA requirements. These amendments would allow the entities to provide the position statements in person, via US mail or via email, upon request. Additionally, in anticipation of CDSS's new statewide Appeals Case Management System, the amendments would make provisions that allow entities to opt out of electronic notifications inoperable when the new Appeals Case Management System is fully operational. Therefore, the committee recommends the following amendments: WIC 10952.5. (a) If regulations require a public or private agency to write a position statement concerning the issues in question in a fair hearing, or if the public or private agency chooses to develop that statement, not less than two business days before the date of a hearing provided for pursuant to this chapter, the public or private agency shall make available to the applicant for, or recipient of, public social services requesting a fair hearing, a copy of the public or private agency's position statement on the forthcoming hearing. The public or private agency shall make the copy available to the applicant or recipient , upon request, AB 2346 (Baker) Page 6 of ? at the county welfare department , via US mail, orandthrough electronic means. If the applicant or recipient requests the position statement to be delivered via electronic means and the position statement contains personal identifying information, the position statement must be delivered via secure electronic means, except as provided for in subsection (d) . A public or private agency shall be required to comply with this section only if the public or private agency has received a 10-day prior notice of the date and time of the scheduled hearing. (b) If the public or private agency does not make the position statement available not less than two business days before the hearing or if the public or private agency decides to modify the position statement, the hearing shall be postponed upon the request of the applicant or recipient, if an applicant or recipient agrees to waive the right to obtain a decision on the hearing within the deadline that would otherwise be applicable under regulations. A postponement for reason of the public or private agency not making the position statement available within not less than two business days shall be deemed a postponement for good cause for purposes of determining eligibility to any applicable benefits pending disposition of the hearing. (c) Subdivisions (a) and (b) shall not apply to the State Department of Health Care Services or the State Department of Public Health, except that the State Department of Health Care Services shall make its position statement available to the applicant or recipient and the State Department of Social Services through electronic means not less than two business days before the scheduled hearing. (d) A public or private agency shall not be required to make 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 the State Department of Social Services that includes both of the following: (1) The barriers the agency has identified that substantially impede or prohibit the electronic provision of hearing documents. (2) The steps the agency is taking to address these barriers. (e) Subsection (d) shall become inoperative once the Department of Social Services' statewide electronic case management system AB 2346 (Baker) Page 7 of ? is operational and has the capacity to provide position statements via secure electronic means to claimants. PRIOR VOTES ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Assembly Floor: |76 - | | |0 | |-----------------------------------------------------------+-----| |Assembly Appropriations Committee: |20 - | | |0 | |-----------------------------------------------------------+-----| |Assembly Human Services Committee: |6 - | | |0 | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- POSITIONS Support: Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization (Sponsor) Housing California Oppose: None. -- END --