BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1339
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 1339
(Monning) - As Amended August 1, 2016
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy |Human Services |Vote:|7 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill clarifies the intercounty transfer process (ICT) used
when a beneficiary of public assistance, including CalWORKs,
CalFresh, and Medi-Cal, moves between counties. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Requires a recipient of public assistance benefits who is
changing residence from one county to another to notify either
the county from which he or she moves, or the county to which
he or she is moving, of the change of residence.
SB 1339
Page 2
2)Grants recipients of CalWORKs, CalFresh, or Medi-Cal benefits
the right to report a change of residence in person, in
writing, telephonically, or electronically if the technology
is available, and requires recipients to be made aware of this
right at the time of application or redetermination or
recertification.
3)Requires a county to initiate an intercounty transfer for all
benefits as soon as either county is made aware of a
recipient's move from one county to another and requires that
benefits for all programs for which the recipient is eligible
be transferred within 30 days after either county becomes
aware of the recipient's move.
4)Prohibits the new county of residence, to the extent permitted
by federal law and regulation, from interviewing recipients
moving to that county from another county to determine
continued eligibility for CalWORKs or CalFresh until the next
scheduled recertification.
5)Requires, if a Medi-Cal beneficiary moves to a new county and
is still enrolled in a managed care health plan in the county
from which he or she moved and needs services in the new
county, a Medi-Cal Managed Care Ombudsman, upon request by the
beneficiary or either county, to disenroll the beneficiary as
an expedited disenrollment from his or her managed care health
plan, and specifies that a disenrolled beneficiary be entitled
to the full scope of benefits in the new county through the
fee-for-services delivery system until he or she is enrolled
in a managed care health plan in the new county.
FISCAL EFFECT:
SB 1339
Page 3
1)Unknown, potentially reimbursable, state mandated costs for
increased county administrative costs (GF). By expediting the
transfer of responsibility for providing CalWORKs benefits
between counties, the bill will result in the shifting of
administrative costs from one county to another. The net
effect is unlikely to be an overall increase in expenditures
for CalWORKs benefits. Therefore, it is unlikely that counties
would be successful in seeking state reimbursement for the
increased costs due to the expedited deadlines for processing
transfers.
2)Unknown potential increased costs for benefits (GF/local
funds), likely minor, from the potential increase in
eligibility due to the prohibition on redetermining
eligibility upon a transfer.
3)Minor and absorbable costs to revise existing regulations
governing the ICT process by the Department of Health Care
Services (DHCS) and the Department of Social Services (DSS).
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author's office, "Low-income
individuals and families move more frequently and need to be
able to keep their safety-net programs when they do. This
bill modernizes and simplifies the inter-county transfer
process in state statute to make sure that benefits are not
interrupted when a beneficiary of the CalWORKs, CalFresh, or
Medi-Cal program relocates. There is some confusion among
counties with regard to the implementation of Inter-County
Transfers, and there are instances in which the sending or
receiving county does not fully understand the process due to
current law being vague. By making the inter-county transfer
process easy to eligible beneficiaries and understanding for
counties to implement we will be able to prevent unnecessary
SB 1339
Page 4
disruptions in benefits that ensure that people are able to
work and stay healthy."
2)Background. When a recipient of public assistance benefits
moves between counties, current law provides a benefit
transfer process through an Inter-County Transfer (ICT) of
their case. Currently, CalFresh, CalWORKs and Medi-Cal have
ICT processes in place. There were a total of 59,016
intercounty transfer cases in 2015.
a) CalFresh: In September 2013, DSS issued an All County
Letter (ACL) outlining the ICT process for individuals
receiving CalFresh assistance. In acknowledging that
households not be subject to a break in benefits is of high
priority, the ACL cites the importance of intercounty
communication when determining in which county it is most
beneficial for recertification to be completed. The ACL
also cites that it is the responsibility of the sending
county to confirm that the receiving county is provided
with all information necessary to complete the transfer,
and that a household may not be terminated for being a
resident of the receiving county until the receiving county
has assumed responsibility for the case.
b) CalWORKs: According to the DSS Manual of Policies and
Procedures, the ICT process for CalWORKs recipients
requires the sending county to notify the receiving county
of the initiation of a case transfer and inform the
recipient in writing of his or her responsibility to
immediately apply for a redetermination of eligibility in
the receiving county to avoid a break in benefits. The
sending county is also responsible for ensuring all
necessary documents are sent to the receiving county within
seven working days from the date that the sending county
notified the receiving county of a case transfer.
SB 1339
Page 5
c) Medi-Cal: In ACL 03-12, distributed by DHCS in February
2003, the ICT process for Medi-Cal cases states that
counties may not terminate Medi-Cal benefits when a
beneficiary moves from one county to another until an
effective date of benefits for the beneficiary in the new
county is confirmed. Counties also may not ask or require
a beneficiary to reapply for Med-Cal benefits or apply for
a redetermination of eligibility in the new county of
residence solely due to the change in county residence.
The ICT process for Medi-Cal recipients does not allow for
the redetermination of eligibility during the transfer
process, nor may counties require a beneficiary to complete
a new application for benefits.
1)Prior Legislation. AB 1970 (Skinner), 2012, would have made
technical changes to existing code sections pertaining to
sending and receiving information related to CalFresh and
CalWORKs benefits and eligibility. That bill was held on the
Senate Appropriations suspense file.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
SB 1339
Page 6