BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 174 (Monning) - Office of Systems Integration.
Amended: August 9, 2012 Policy Vote: Health 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 13, 2012
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 174 would establishes in law the California
Health and Human Services Automation Fund. The bill specifies
the sources of funding that should be transferred to and
appropriated from the fund. The bill authorizes the Employment
Development Department and the Franchise Tax Board to disclose
certain information to the California Health Benefit Exchange.
Fiscal Impact:
Minor costs to administer the California Health and Human
Services Fund.
Annual costs of about $20,000 to the Employment Development
Department to provide required information to the California
Health Benefit Exchange (California Health Trust Fund).
Annual costs of about $20,000 to the Franchise Tax Board to
provide require information to the California Health Benefit
Exchange, based on projected costs the Employment
Development Department for similar activities (California
Health Trust Fund).
Background: The Office of Systems Integration, in the Health and
Human Services Agency, is responsible for developing and
managing significant information technology projects that impact
health and human services departments and local agencies.
Prior law (SB 68, Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter
78, Statutes of 2005) established the Office of Systems
Integration Fund, and required certain funds to be deposited in
that fund and expended for specified information technology
projects. That provision of law was inadvertently deleted in
AB 174 (Monning)
Page 1
2006.
Under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
(Affordable Care Act) states are required to establish American
Health Benefit Exchanges. If a state does not create an
Exchange, the federal government will do so. Within the
Exchanges, individuals will be able to purchase health care
coverage with standardized benefit packages and actuarial
values. In addition, individuals with incomes between 100
percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level will be
eligible for subsidies for coverage purchased in the Exchanges.
California has established the California Health Benefit
Exchange in statute, and required the Exchange, in coordination
with the Department of Health Care Services and other agencies,
to develop a consolidated system to determine eligibility for
health care coverage through the Exchange or in Medi-Cal.
Proposed Law: AB 174 would establish in statute the California
Health and Human Services Automation Fund. Monies in the fund
shall be available, upon appropriation of the Legislature, for
the Office of Systems Integration to develop and manage
specified information technology projects. The bill specifies
that monies in the fund shall include funds appropriated to the
Department of Social Services, the Employment Development
Department, the Department of Health Care Services, the Managed
Risk Medical Insurance Board, and the California Health Benefit
Exchange, for specified information technology projects.
The bill also would authorize the Employment Development
Department and the Franchise Tax Board to disclose certain
information relating to employment status, wages, and
unemployment claims to the California Health Benefit Exchange.
The purpose of these provisions is to allow the Exchange to use
such data to determine an applicant's eligibility for enrollment
in Medi-Cal or to receive subsidized health care coverage
through the Exchange.
Staff Comments: According to the Health and Human Services
Agency, the Office of Systems Integration is already responsible
for developing and managing the specified projects and there is
no anticipated administrative cost to creating and managing the
new fund.
AB 174 (Monning)
Page 2
The California Health Benefit Exchange is currently funded with
federal grant funds. After 2015, the Exchange will be funded by
fees charged to health plans selling coverage through the
Exchange.
The Exchange indicates that the consolidated eligibility and
enrollment system, already under development, will be able to
incorporate information received from the Employment Development
Department and the Franchise Tax Board with no additional costs.
The only costs that would be imposed on a local government
relate to crimes and infractions. Such costs are not
reimbursable by the state under the California Constitution.
Proposed author's amendments: The proposed amendments specify
that nothing in the bill would override any existing state or
federal laws regarding patient privacy or information security.