BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: SB 791
S
AUTHOR: Yee
B
VERSION: April 13, 2009
HEARING DATE: April 28, 2009
7
FISCAL: To Appropriations, urgency
9
1
CONSULTANT:
Hailey
SUBJECT
In-home supportive services: providers: county
responsibilities
SUMMARY
Establishes that public authorities are the employer of
in-home supportive services (IHSS) workers for the purpose
of workers' receiving health care benefits available
through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
(COBRA) and the federal Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009.
ABSTRACT
Current law:
1. Establishes the IHSS program through which eligible
aged, blind, and disabled individuals receive services that
enable them to stay safely in their homes.
2. Provides that counties are responsible for the
administration of the IHSS program.
3. Directs counties to act as an employer for IHSS
providers or to establish a public authority or a
non-profit consortium to act as an employer for IHSS
Continued---
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providers.
4. Provides, through federal law, for temporary
continuation of health care coverage, at group rates, for
certain former employees, retirees, spouses, former
spouses, and dependent children. (Consolidated Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act, 1986)
5. Provides, through federal law, for certain employees,
whose employment involuntarily ends between September 1,
2008, and December 31, 2009, to have a lower payment for
health care benefits through COBRA for up to nine months.
This bill:
1. Identifies counties - directly or through public
authorities or non-profit consortia - as the employer of
IHSS providers for the purposes of providers receiving the
benefits of partial payment of COBRA premiums, as allowable
by federal law.
FISCAL IMPACT
Unknown
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Changes in federal law
Effective as of March 1, 2009, the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 - the federal stimulus bill --
amends COBRA to provide that certain COBRA qualified
beneficiaries will only have to pay 35 percent of their
regular COBRA premium. The federal government will pay the
other 65 percent through a credit on payroll taxes paid by
the individual's employer or former employer.
According to the author, this COBRA subsidy will be
available to employees who are terminated involuntarily
between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009 -- and
other qualified beneficiaries who lose coverage in
connection with the termination of employment (such as a
spouse or a dependent).
Need for the bill
According to the bill's sponsor, this legislation is needed
to clarify that counties and their public authorities or
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non-profit consortia that are established to be the
employer of record of IHSS providers are indeed the
employer for the purposes of giving an eligible worker
access to the COBRA subsidy.
Counties' concerns
The California State Association of Counties (CSAC) has
raised several concerns with the author:
What entity floats the premium assistance?
If the public authorities are fronting the funds, a
mechanism to reimburse the public authorities must be
identified.
What are the legal requirements and implications of
public authorities being identified as the employer?
The author believes that the bill is necessary but perhaps
not sufficient for an IHSS worker to receive assistance
with COBRA payments. The author believes that counties
have identified issues that need solutions but that the
issues are not caused by the bill - they need addressing
for IHSS workers to receive the benefits Congress is
providing.
POSITIONS
Support American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees
(sponsor)
United Domestic Workers of America Homecare
Providers
Union (sponsor)
Oppose: None received
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