BILL ANALYSIS
AB 963
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 963 (Ammiano)
As Amended January 25, 2010
Majority vote
HEALTH 18-0 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Jones, Fletcher, Adams, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, |
| |Ammiano, Block, Carter, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Conway, De La Torre, De | |Calderon, Coto, Davis, |
| |Leon, Emmerson, Hall, | |Fuentes, Hall, John A. |
| |Hayashi, Hernandez, | |Perez, Skinner, Solorio, |
| |Bonnie Lowenthal, Nava, | |Torlakson |
| |V. Manuel Perez, Salas, | |Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| |Audra Strickland | |Nielsen, Audra Strickland |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, Audra Strickland |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Health Care
Services (DHCS) to establish, in consultation with counties, the
Department of Social Services (DSS), representatives of the
Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) consortia, and
consumers, a stakeholder planning workgroup to develop a joint
renewal and recertification form to be used by persons who are
eligible for more than one of the Medi-Cal, Food Stamp and
CalWORKS programs. Specifically, this bill requires the:
1)Workgroup to develop the joint renewal and recertification
form to be considered for adoption by the department, the
counties, DSS, and the SAWS consortia;
2)Stakeholder planning group to review existing forms and
specifies additional task to simplify and streamline
eligibility such as maximizing use of shared technology and
information and aligning eligibility dates, and to safeguard
confidentiality, ensure no disruption in coverage, minimize
burdens on recipients and consider additional modifications
allowable under federal law or permitted through a waiver as
specified;
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3)Department, in consultation with DSS to obtain funding from
private or public sources to finance the workgroup without use
of any General Fund (GF) moneys.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Medi-Cal Program, which is administered by
DHCS, and under which qualified low-income individuals receive
health care benefits.
2)Establishes the Food Stamp Program, under which food stamps
are allocated by each county in accordance with federal
requirements, and the CalWORKS program, under which each
county provides cash assistance and other benefits to
qualified low-income families and individuals who meet
specified eligibility criteria. Both the Food Stamp Program
and the CalWORKs program are administered at the state level
by DSS.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis:
1)One-time non-GF (e.g., federal or private) costs of $50,000 to
$100,000 to convene the stakeholder group and conduct analysis
to make recommendations to reduce eligibility barriers. This
bill specifies the stakeholder group will be funded with
non-GF support. The author and sponsor indicate interest has
been expressed by philanthropic stakeholders and that federal
Food Stamps funding may also be available to support these
efforts.
2)Recent amendments narrow the scope of this bill to delete
implementation requirements and to clarify that no GF costs or
GF pressures will be created.
COMMENTS : This bill is co-sponsored by Western Center on Law &
Poverty, the Children's Partnership and United Way of the Bay
Area to streamline the Medi-Cal eligibility process and
eliminate duplicate, burdensome paperwork. According to the
author and sponsors, each county administers multiple programs
to provide basic necessities to low-income individuals and
families, including Medi-Cal, Food Stamps, and CaIWORKS. Many
of the same people are eligible for two or more programs. These
programs have existed in separate silos and were usually
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administered by different departments or divisions at the state
and county levels. Eligibility was calculated by different
workers using different forms. Although some of those divisions
remain, the counties now use computer systems that allow for
improved data sharing and communication, but duplicate sets of
forms and verifications are still often required. Technology
has sufficiently improved so that computer systems can already
share information to eliminate the need for duplicate requests
of the same information.
AB X4 7 (Budget Committee), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2009-10
Fourth Extraordinary Session authorized DHCS and DSS to develop
a comprehensive implementation plan regarding a centralized
statewide eligibility and enrollment process for the Medi-Cal,
CalWORKs, and Food Stamps programs. Current eligibility
processes are administered by county welfare departments and
rely on face-to-face and mail-in application process that is
burdensome for both recipients and administrators. Several
foundations have funded an AB X4 7 centralized eligibility work
group to assess the viability of a broader effort to develop a
single statewide eligibility system for enrollment in health and
social service programs such as Medi-Cal, CalWORKs, and Food
Stamp Program and other programs such as Access for Infants and
Mothers program, Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program,
Family Planning Access, Care and Treatment Program, Health
Families Program and the Women's, Infants an Children
Supplemental Nutrition program.
Analysis Prepared by : Marjorie Swartz / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0003598