BILL NUMBER: AB 1924	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Audra Strickland

                        FEBRUARY 16, 2010

   An act to amend Section 12305.82 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to in-home supportive services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1924, as introduced, Audra Strickland. In-Home Supportive
Services: fraud.
   Existing law provides for the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)
program, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons
receive services enabling them to remain in their home. The IHSS
program is administered by counties under the general supervision and
guidance of the State Department of Social Services. Existing law
contains provisions relating to the duties of the State Department of
Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, and
the counties relating to IHSS fraud.
   Under existing law, a county may investigate suspected fraud in
connection with the provision or receipt of in-home supportive
services with respect to an overpayment of $500 or less.
   This bill would delete the limitation on a county's authority to
investigate suspected fraud in connection with the provision or
receipt of supportive services to overpayments of $500 or less.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 12305.82 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
is amended to read:
   12305.82.  (a) In addition to its existing authority under the
Medi-Cal program, the State Department of Health Care Services shall
have the authority to investigate fraud in the provision or receipt
of in-home supportive services. Counties shall also have the
authority to investigate fraud in the provision or receipt of in-home
supportive services pursuant to the protocols developed in
subdivision (b). The department, the State Department of Health Care
Services, and counties, including county quality assurance staff,
shall work together as appropriate to coordinate activities to detect
and prevent fraud by in-home supportive services providers and
recipients in accordance with federal and state laws and regulations,
including applicable due process requirements, to take appropriate
administrative action relating to suspected fraud in the provision or
receipt of in-home supportive services, and to refer suspected
criminal offenses to appropriate law enforcement agencies for
prosecution.
   (b) (1)  The department, in consultation with county welfare
directors and other stakeholders, as appropriate, shall develop
uniform statewide protocols for acceptable activities to be performed
and acceptable measures to be taken by the department, the State
Department of Health Care Services, and the counties for purposes of
fraud prevention.
   (2) The State Department of Health Care Services, the department,
and the county may share data with each other as necessary to prevent
fraud and investigate suspected fraud pursuant to this section. The
information shall only be used for purposes of preventing and
investigating suspected fraud in the In-Home Supportive Services
program, and shall otherwise remain confidential.
   (c) If the State Department of Health Care Services concludes that
there is reliable evidence that a provider or recipient of
supportive services has engaged in fraud in connection with the
provision or receipt of in-home supportive services, the State
Department of Health Care Services shall notify the department, the
county, and the county's public authority or nonprofit consortium, if
any, of that conclusion.
   (d) If a county concludes that there is reliable evidence that a
supportive services provider or recipient has engaged in fraud in
connection with the provision or receipt of in-home supportive
services, the county shall notify the department and the State
Department of Health Care Services of that conclusion.
   (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a county may
investigate suspected fraud in connection with the provision or
receipt of supportive services  , with respect to an
overpayment of five hundred dollars ($500) or less  .
   (f) The failure of a provider or a recipient to comply with
program requirements may result in termination of his or her
participation in the In-Home Supportive Services program, subject to
all applicable federal and state due process requirements.