BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2346| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2346 Author: Baker (R), et al. Amended: 8/18/16 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/28/16 AYES: McGuire, Berryhill, Hancock, Liu, Nguyen SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 5/23/16 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Public social services: hearings SOURCE: Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization DIGEST: This bill requires specified position statements related to state hearings to be made available at county welfare departments, or via United States mail, or, upon request, electronically, as specified. The bill exempts, for a specified period, a public or private agency from providing electronic copies of the positions statement if it submits a report to the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) by December 31 of each year. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/18/16 clarify that specified position statements must be made available at county welfare departments, or via United States mail, or through electronic means, upon request. The amendments also require that position statements delivered through electronic means must be delivered through secure electronic means, if secure delivery is required by state or federal privacy laws. The amendments also create AB 2346 Page 2 uniform standards for all departments by deleting language that exempted the Department of Public Health and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) from certain parts of the bill and by deleting the requirement that DHCS must provide position statements through electronic means to the individual applicant or recipient and to CDSS not less than two business days before a scheduled hearing. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Requires CDSS and 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 CDSS to set the hearing within 30 working 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) AB 2346 Page 3 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: 1)Requires a public or private agency to make its positions statement available to the applicant or recipient at the county welfare department, or via United States mail, or, upon request, through electronic means, as specified. 2)Requires that, if the applicant or recipient requests a position statement to be delivered through electronic means, the position statement shall be delivered through secure electronic means, if required by state or federal privacy laws. 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 AB 2346 Page 4 barriers to providing position statements electronically, and what steps the agency is taking to address these barriers, as specified. 4)Makes other technical changes. Background 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 (SSI/SSP), 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 AB 2346 Page 5 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 documents, such as the Statement of Position. The new system is reportedly designed to meet Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 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. Related/Prior Legislation AB 617 (Nazarian, Chapter 869, Statutes of 2014) established an appeals process for eligibility or enrollment determinations and redeterminations for insurance affordability programs, as defined, or exemption determinations within Covered California's jurisdiction. The bill also required CDSS to conduct the appeal hearings. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified 8/2/16) Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization (source) Housing California OPPOSITION: (Verified8/2/16) None received AB 2346 Page 6 ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the sponsor, 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 living in rural areas. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 5/23/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Wood, Rendon NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Eggman, Patterson, Williams Prepared by:Taryn Smith / HUMAN S. / (916) 651-1524 8/19/16 18:44:32 **** END ****