BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     SB 492  


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          Date of Hearing:  July 15, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          SB 492  
          (Liu) - As Amended June 25, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)  
          to develop, publish, and distribute a specified educational and  
          informational guide for consumers and patients regarding the  
          Coordinated Care Initiative (CCI).








                                                                     SB 492  


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          FISCAL EFFECT:


          Cost to DHCS is unlikely to exceed $150,000 (50% GF, 50%  
          federal) for development of the informational guide,  
          translation, and printing and mailing costs.  


          The number of guides required to be produced and mailed, as well  
          as the size of the brochures, is indeterminate.  The bill only  
          requires provision of an unspecified number of guides to  
          specified consumer advocacy groups, not to all beneficiaries. 


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose. This bill is intended to provide critical information  
            to Medi-Cal beneficiaries on the enrollment process, and the  
            rights they have under the CCI, an initiative which aims to  
            better integrate Medi-Cal, Medicare, and long-term care  
            services and supports.  



          2)Background. In July 2012, California enacted the CCI to better  
            serve the state's low-income seniors and persons with  
            disabilities by integrating the delivery of medical,  
            behavioral, and long-term care services, and providing  
            protocols to integrate Medicare and Medi-Cal for dually  
            eligible individuals.  Existing law authorizes eight counties  
            to participate in the CCI, however there are currently only  
            six counties actively participating: Los Angeles, Riverside,  
            San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo, and Santa Clara.  DHCS  
            produces the "Cal MediConnect Health Plan Guidebook" for those  
            approximately 125,000 individuals enrolled in CalMediConnect,  
            which provides fully integrated Medi-Cal and Medicare  








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            benefits.  However, there are hundreds of thousands more  
            individuals who are provided integrated long-term care  
            services and supports, and/or health care services through  
            managed care plans that do not appear to have access to a  
            specific guidebook.  



          3)Staff Comments.  Some of the information required for the  
            guidebook is likely duplicative of existing information  
            produced by DHCS.  Is this bill necessary? 



          Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081