BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1339
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB
1339 (Monning)
As Amended August 1, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 39-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Human Services |7-0 |Bonilla, Grove, | |
| | |Arambula, Lopez, | |
| | |Maienschein, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Mark Stone, Thurmond | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood, | |
SB 1339
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| | |Chau | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Clarifies the process counties must follow when a
recipient of public assistance benefits, 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.
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 (ICT)
for all benefits as soon as either county is made aware of a
recipient's move from one county to another.
4)Requires that benefits for all programs for which the
recipient is eligible be processed for transfer within 30 days
after either county becomes aware of the recipient's move in
order to ensure the earliest possible start date at the
beginning of the next available benefit month.
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5)Requires the new county of residence to be reflected in the
Medi-Cal Eligibility Data System within 30 days after either
county becomes aware of the recipient's move.
6)Requires the intercounty transfer process to be as simple and
client friendly as possible, to the greatest extent possible,
and further requires that the process ensure the applicant or
recipient need not provide copies of documents previously
provided to the prior county of residence and that there is no
interruption in benefits.
7)Requires that case file documents be electronically shared
between the prior county of residence and the new county of
residence, to the extent possible, as specified.
8)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, as specified, with the exception of
an interview conducted regarding welfare-to-work program
participation for CalWORKs recipients.
9)Requires the following for beneficiaries required to receive
services through a Medi-Cal managed care health plan:
a) If a 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 must, upon request by the
beneficiary or either county, disenroll the beneficiary as
an expedited disenrollment from his or her managed care
health plan; and
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b) A beneficiary who is disenrolled from the managed care
health plan in the county from which he or she transfers
shall be entitled to the full scope of benefits for which
he or she is entitled 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.
10) Requires, for a beneficiary who moves to a county that
provides Medi-Cal services through a county organized health
system, that beneficiary to be enrolled in the county
organized health system plan on the first day of the month the
new county of residence is reflected in the Medi-Cal
Eligibility Data System.
11)Prohibits the failure to report a move to a different county
within the state from constituting a basis for an overpayment.
12)Repeals Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Sections 11053
and 11053.2 as it pertains to intercounty transfer timelines
and existing intercounty transfer process guidelines.
13)Makes technical changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes under federal law the Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) program to provide aid and
welfare-to-work services to eligible families and, in
California, provides that TANF funds for welfare-to-work
services are administered through the CalWORKs program. (42
United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 601 et seq., WIC Section
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11200 et seq.)
2)Establishes income, asset and real property limits used to
determine eligibility for the program, including net income
below the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP), based on family size and
county of residence. (WIC Section 11250 et seq.)
3)Requires all individuals over 16 years of age, unless they are
otherwise exempt, to participate in welfare-to-work activities
as a condition of eligibility for CalWORKs. (WIC Sections
11320.3, 11322.6)
4)Establishes a 48-month lifetime limit of CalWORKs benefits for
eligible adults, including 24 months during which a recipient
must meet federal work requirements in order to retain
eligibility. (WIC Sections 11454, 11322.85)
5)Establishes the number of weekly hours of welfare-to-work
participation necessary to remain eligible for aid, including
requirements for an unemployed parent in a two-parent
assistance unit, as specified. (WIC Section 11322.8)
6)Establishes under federal law the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) pursuant to the Food Stamp Act of
1964 and establishes, in California statute, the CalFresh
program to administer the provision of federal SNAP benefits
to families and individuals meeting specified criteria, as
specified. (WIC Section 18900 et seq.)
7)Establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State
Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified
low-income persons are provided with health care services.
(WIC Section 14000 et seq.)
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8)Establishes the responsibility of a benefit recipient changing
residence from one county to another within the state to
promptly notify the county paying aid to the recipient of the
move and to apply for a redetermination of eligibility within
the new county of residence. (WIC Section 11053)
9)Requires the first county to notify the second county of a
recipient's move as soon as the recipient's location in the
second county is known. (WIC Section 11053)
10)Requires that the county to which the recipient has moved
will be responsible for determining eligibility for the
Medi-Cal program, as of the first day of the month following
30 days after the first county has notified the second county
of the recipient's relocation. The first county shall provide
the second county with copies of those documents, as
specified, necessary to establish eligibility and grant
amount. (WIC Section 11053)
11)Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to establish
and implement a process of intercounty transfer (ICT) of
eligibility for CalFresh benefits, and to take various
regulatory actions. (WIC Section 11053.20)
12)Requires that, for CalFresh recipients who are receiving
CalWORKs benefits, the ICT process utilized for CalWORKs shall
be used. Requires that, for CalFresh recipients who are
receiving Medi-Cal but are not receiving CalWORKs benefits,
the ICT process utilized for the Medi-Cal program shall be
used. (WIC Section 11053.2(b))
13)Requires development of an ICT process, as specified, for
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CalFresh recipients. Requires that, to the greatest extent
possible, the process shall be simple, client friendly, ensure
the client does not need to provide copies of documents that
were previously provided to the prior county of residence,
build on existing process for the programs, and minimize
workload for county eligibility operations. (WIC Section
11053.2(c))
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee on August 3, 2016, this bill may result in the
following costs:
1)Unknown, potentially reimbursable, state mandated costs for
increased county administrative costs (General Fund). 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 (General
Fund/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 DSS.
COMMENTS:
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CalWORKs: The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to
Kids (CalWORKs) program provides monthly income assistance and
employment-related services aimed at moving children out of
poverty and helping families meet basic needs. Federal funding
for CalWORKs comes from the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) block grant. The average 2016-17 monthly cash
grant for a family of three on CalWORKs (one parent and two
children) is $497.35, and the maximum monthly grant amount for a
family of three, if the family has no other income and lives in
a high-cost county, is $704. According to recent data from the
California Department of Social Services, over 497,000 families
rely on CalWORKs, including over one million children. Nearly
60% of cases include children under six years old.
Maximum grant amounts in high-cost counties of $704 per month
for a family of three with no other income means $23.46 per day,
per family, or $7.82 per family member, per day to meet basic
needs, including rent, clothing, utility bills, food, and
anything else a family needs to ensure children can be cared for
at home and safely remain with their families. This grant
amount puts the annual household income at $8,448 per year, or
42% of poverty. Federal Poverty Guidelines for 2016 show that
100% of poverty for a family of three is $20,160 per year.
CalFresh: CalFresh benefits are funded entirely by the federal
government through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
sets specific eligibility requirements for SNAP programs across
the United States, including a gross and net income test, work
requirements, and other documentation requirements. The maximum
allowable gross income is typically 200% of the Federal Poverty
Level (FPL). Households with elderly or disabled members are
not subject to gross income criteria but must have a net monthly
income at or below 100% of the FPL. Other households must meet
both gross and net monthly income tests. CalFresh is
administered locally by county human services agencies, and the
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federal, state, and county governments share in the cost of
administration of the program.
Medi-Cal: Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program which
serves low-income individuals including families, seniors,
persons with disabilities, and children in foster care, among
others. Administered by DHCS, Medi-Cal services are often
implemented at the local level through California's 58 counties.
According to DHCS, in January 2016 approximately 13,480,000
Californians were deemed eligible and received benefits through
the Medi-Cal program. Women and those adults between the ages
of 21 and 64 constituted a majority of Medi-Cal benefit
recipients. In the Governor's 2016 Budget, DHCS received just
over $26 billion for administration and implementation of
services, including Medi-Cal.
Inter-County Transfers: In the event that a recipient of public
assistance benefits moves between counties, a seamless benefit
transfer process is available through an Inter-County Transfer
of their case. Currently, CalFresh, CalWORKs and Medi-Cal have
ICT processes in place.
CalFresh: In September 2013, DSS issued an All County Letter
(ACL) outlining the ICT process for individuals receiving
CalFresh assistance. In acknowledging that ensuring households
are not 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.
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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.
Medi-Cal: In ACL 03-12 distributed by DHCS in February 2003,
the ICT process for Medi-Cal cases is cited and 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.
Need for this bill: 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
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disruptions in benefits that ensure that people are able to work
and stay healthy."
PRIOR LEGISLATION
AB 1970 (Skinner), of 2012: This bill would have made technical
changes to existing code sections pertaining to sending and
receiving information related to CalFresh and CalWORKs benefits
and eligibility. This bill was held on the Senate
Appropriations suspense file.
Analysis Prepared by:
Kelsy Castillo / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN:
0003824