BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
963 (Ammiano)
Hearing Date: 8/12/2010 Amended: 6/30/2010
Consultant: Katie Johnson Policy Vote: Health 5-0 Hum.
Serv. 3-2
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 963 would require the Department of Health
Care Services, in consultation with counties, the Department of
Social Services, and other stakeholders, to conduct a
stakeholder planning workgroup to develop a single renewal and
recertification form for the Medi-Cal, Food Stamp, and CalWORKs
programs.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
DSS workgroup staff $90 $90 $0 Federal/**
Private
DHCS workgroup staff $100 $100 $0 Federal/*
Private
DHCS cost pressure to potentially in the hundreds General/*
implement policy changes thousands of dollars, likely
one-timeFederal
Cost pressures due to unknown, potentially
significantGeneral/
increased continuity in cost pressures Federal
Medi-Cal, CalWORKs,
and Food Stamps benefits
*DHCS costs would be shared 50 - 75 percent federal funds, 50
percent private funds
**DSS CalWORKS staff costs would come entirely from federal TANF
funds. Food Stamps staff would be shared 50 percent federal
funds, 50 percent private funds.
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
This bill would require the Department of Health Care Services
(DHCS), in consultation with counties, the Department of Social
Services (DSS), representatives of the Statewide Automated
Welfare System (SAWS) consortia, consumers, and other
stakeholders, to conduct a stakeholder planning workgroup to
develop a single renewal and recertification form and related
policies and procedures for the Medi-Cal, Food Stamp, and
CalWORKs programs to be considered for adoption by the
department.
Stakeholder workgroup tasks would include: 1) determining which
questions and documentation requests are necessary; 2)
developing forms, policies, and procedures to be used for both
paper and electronic renewal; 3) aligning renewal and
recertification dates for recipients without requiring the
recipients to lose any benefits earlier than they otherwise
would have; 4) giving priority to the program changes necessary
to enable
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AB 963 (Ammiano)
SAWS consortia to automate the renewal and recertification
procedure, maximize the use of available information, and
minimize manual workload; 5) considering any additional
modifications that could be made to minimize burdens on
recipients that would include electronic and telephonic renewal
methods, prepopulated forms, elimination of interview
requirements, and electronic verification of information to
determine eligibility, and encouraging retention of Medi-Cal,
Food Stamp, and CalWORKs benefits.
Funding for the stakeholder workgroup would come from private
and public sources, excluding the state General Fund. Costs to
the DSS would be approximately $90,000 in both FY 2010-2011 and
FY 2011-2012 and would be shared as follows: CalWORKS staff
costs would come entirely from federal TANF funds and Food
Stamps staff costs would be shared 50 percent federal funds, 50
percent private funds. DHCS staff costs would be approximately
$100,000 in both FY 2010-2011 and FY 2011-2012. To the extent
that private funds are unavailable, there would be cost pressure
on the General Fund to provide the moneys necessary to cover the
private share.
There would be cost pressures in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars in one-time expenditures to DHCS to promulgate
regulations and to make technologic, policy, and process changes
related to the recommendations produced by this stakeholder
workgroup. There would be additional cost pressures of unknown,
but likely significant amounts, to provide increased continuity
of Medi-Cal, CalWORKs, and Food Stamp benefits to the extent the
stakeholder recommendations are implemented. To the extent that
this bill's recommendations result in administrative
efficiencies, there could be unknown local administration
savings.
AB X4 7 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2008,
authorized DHCS and DSS to implement a centralized statewide
eligibility and enrollment process for the Medi-Cal, CalWORKS,
and Food Stamps programs. The California Health and Human
Services Agency (CHHS) procured private funding from several
foundations and began a stakeholder process; it is currently on
hold due to the passage of the federal Affordable Care Act,
which requires similar efficiencies.