BILL NUMBER: AB 2589 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 13, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gomez
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Sections 123362 and 123363 to the Health and Safety
Code, relating to public health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2589, as amended, Gomez. Public health: lactation services and
equipment.
Existing law provides for the California Special Supplemental
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC Program)
administered by the State Department of Public Health and counties,
under which nutrition and other assistance is provided to eligible
low-income postpartum and lactating women, infants, and children
under 5 years of age.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under
which health care services, including breastfeeding services, are
provided to qualified low-income persons. Existing law requires the
State Department of Health Care Services to streamline and simplify
existing Medi-Cal program procedures in order to improve access to
lactation supports and breast pumps among Medi-Cal recipients.
This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to
coordinate with the State Department of Health Care Services and
Covered California to develop processes, procedures, and an
electronic interface for eligibility-related information sharing to
streamline enrollment into the WIC Program as part of the application
process for Medi-Cal and health plans offered through the California
Health Benefit Exchange. The bill would require the interface of the
California Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment, and Retention System
(CalHEERS) and the Statewide Automated Welfare Systems (SAWS)
to identify individuals who may be eligible for the WIC Program
and, by certain dates, provide electronic access to program
applications in a certain format, as specified. The bill would also
require the State Department of Public Health to coordinate with the
State Department of Health Care Services, through a stakeholder
engagement process, as specified, to develop measures and outcomes
for breastfeeding rates, as specified. The bill would require the
recommendations from the stakeholder engagement process to be posted
on the departments' Internet Web sites by January 1, 2018.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 123362 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
123362. (a) The State Department of Public Health shall
coordinate with the State Department of Health Care Services and
Covered California to develop processes, procedures, and an
electronic interface for eligibility-related information sharing to
streamline enrollment into the California Special Supplemental
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as the WIC
Program, as part of the application process for Medi-Cal and health
plans offered through the California Health Benefit Exchange
established under Title 22 (commencing with Section 100500) of the
Government Code.
(b) On or before January 1, 2019, the California Healthcare
Eligibility, Enrollment, and Retention System (CalHEERS) developed
under Section 15926 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and the
Statewide Automated Welfare Systems (SAWS) developed under Section
10823 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as amended by Section 1
of Chapter 846 of the Statutes of 2014, shall identify
individuals who are potentially eligible for the WIC Program and, if
a potentially eligible individual wishes to apply for the WIC
Program, electronically link them to a WIC Program application.
(c) On or before January 1, 2022, the California Healthcare
Eligibility, Enrollment, and Retention System (CalHEERS) developed
under Section 15926 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and the
Statewide Automated Welfare Systems (SAWS) developed
under Section 10823 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as amended
by Section 1 of Chapter 846 of the Statutes of 2014, shall
identify individuals who are potentially eligible for the WIC Program
and, if a potentially eligible individual wishes to apply for the
WIC Program and provides consent to share confidential data with the
WIC Program, provide a simple interface for the individual to
electronically complete a WIC Program application without
resubmitting data already known to the CalHEERS system.
and SAWS systems.
SEC. 2. Section 123363 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
123363. (a) The State Department of Public Health shall
coordinate with the State Department of Health Care Services, through
a stakeholder engagement process that shall include, but not be
limited to, representatives from health care providers, primary care
clinics, and health plans, state and local staff from the California
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC Program) and the Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health
program, and representatives from organizations representing women,
infants, and children, to, beginning prenatally and continuing
through the postpartum period and at least until the infant reaches
one year of age, develop measures and outcomes for breastfeeding
rates that do both of the following:
(1) Include, at a minimum, women's intention to breastfeed,
breastfeeding initiation rates, and exclusivity and duration.
(2) Identify ethnic disparities and sociodemographic differences.
(b) The stakeholder process shall take no longer than six months
and the recommendations shall be posted on the departments' Internet
Web sites by January 1, 2018.