BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 62
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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 62 (Monning)
          As Amended June 27, 2011
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |78-0 |(May 19, 2011)  |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 18,    |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2011)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:    HEALTH  

           SUMMARY  :  Requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) 
          to consult with specified stakeholders in developing and 
          implementing a pilot project for a Medicaid or Medicare 
          demonstration project or waiver and authorizes DHCS to respond 
          to a request for proposal from the federal Centers for Medicare 
          and Medicaid Services (CMS).

           The Senate amendments  are technical and clarifying.

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill was substantially similar 
          to the bill as passed by the Senate.
           
          FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations 
          Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.

           COMMENTS  :   According to the author, this bill provides 
          technical changes to existing law relating to the Section 
          1115(a) Medi-Cal Demonstration "Bridge to Reform" Waiver.  SB 
          208 (Steinberg), Chapter 714, Statutes of 2010, included 
          provisions authorizing the establishment of pilot projects in up 
          to four counties with the purpose of developing effective health 
          care models that integrate Medi-Cal and Medicare services.  The 
          author states that at the time the authorization was included as 
          part of the Section 1115 Medi-Cal waiver legislation.  However, 
          the author states, CMS requested the state not include the dual 
          eligibles (persons eligible for both Medi-Cal and Medicare) as 
          part of that waiver.  The author explains that the federal 
          Patient Protections and Affordable Care Act created the Center 
          for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI).  The CMMI and 
          Office of Duals are working on a new initiative "State 
          Demonstrations to Integrate Care for Dual Eligible Individuals." 
           According to the author, DHCS submitted a response to the CMS 
          Request for Proposal (RFP) for this new initiative on January 








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          28, 2011.  The author states that this bill clarifies that the 
          dual eligible project is not a part of the Medi-Cal 
          Demonstration Waiver.  The author also states that this bill 
          requires consultation with stakeholders to ensure that DHCS 
          continues to be informed by interested and affected members of 
          the stakeholder community.

          Under the current system Medicare is administered and funded by 
          the federal government and generally covers primary and acute 
          care and pharmacy.  Medi-Cal is the secondary payer for 
          low-income beneficiaries and covers primary and acute care, 
          medical equipment, and LTC.  Medi-Cal also pays for home and 
          community-based services but these may be administered 
          separately such as In Home Support Services.

          According to the response submitted to CMS, DHCS is planning to 
          implement an integrated care pilot program in four counties in 
          2012 with a goal that all dual eligibles will have an option to 
          enroll in a fully integrated system of care by 2015.  The 
          federal RFP provided for contract opportunity for up to 15 
          states with up to $1 million per state for design phase.  An 
          implementation phase may be offered in 2012.  CMS is looking for 
          person-centered models that integrate the full range of acute, 
          behavioral health, and long-term supports and services for dual 
          eligible individuals.  

          DHCS has convened a Stakeholder Advisory Committee to advise on 
          preparation of the Section 1115(a) waiver as required by AB 6 X4 
          (Evans), Chapter 6, Statutes of 2009 of the Fourth Extraordinary 
          Session.  The Stakeholder Advisory Committee will also advise on 
          the implementation of the waiver until its expiration.  As 
          specified, the Stakeholder Advisory Committee includes persons 
          with disabilities, seniors, representatives of legal services 
          agencies that serve clients in the affected populations, health 
          plans, specialty care providers, physicians, hospitals, county 
          government, labor, and others as appropriate.  A Stakeholder 
          Advisory Committee was appointed in December 31, 2009, and met 
          on January 7, March 10, May 13, June 10, September 29, and, 
          December 8 in 2010 and February 10 in 2011.  The Stakeholder 
          Advisory Committee has been sub-divided into five Technical 
          Workgroups which each have held public meetings to provide 
          technical support to DHCS on a variety of subjects including  
          Implementation plan to pilot and test different strategies to 
          integrate primary care and behavioral health services, including 
          implementation of a plan for enrollment of Dual Eligible 








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          individuals (those eligible for both Medicare and Medi-Cal) in 
          an organized system of care that more fully integrates Medicare 
          and Medi-Cal to provide more effective delivery of Home and 
          Community Based Services.  This bill clarifies that a 
          stakeholder consultation process should also continue to include 
          the dual eligible project even though it is not part of the 
          Medi-Cal waiver.  
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Marjorie Swartz / HEALTH / (916) 
          319-2097 


          FN: 
          0002024