BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 492 Page 1 Date of Hearing: July 15, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair SB 492 (Liu) - As Amended June 25, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Health |Vote:|17 - 2 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Page 2 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 SB 492 Page 3 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