BILL NUMBER: AB 396	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Mitchell

                        FEBRUARY 14, 2011

   An act to add Section 14053.8 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to Medi-Cal.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 396, as introduced, Mitchell. Medi-Cal: juvenile detention
facilities.
   Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under
which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services.
The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal
Medicaid provisions. Existing federal law, with certain exceptions,
does not provide for payments with respect to care or services for
any individual who is an inmate in a public institution. In
conformity with that federal provision, existing state law suspends
Medi-Cal benefits to an individual under 21 years of age who is an
inmate of a public institution.
   Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation and the State Department of Health Care Services, to
the extent that federal participation is not jeopardized and federal
approval is obtained, to develop a process for the provision of
inpatient hospital services to inmates who would otherwise be
eligible for Medi-Cal, but for their institutional status as inmates.
Existing law also permits, to the extent federal financial
participation is available, the State Department of Health Care
Services to provide Medi-Cal eligibility and reimbursement for
inpatient hospital services to inmates, as defined.
   This bill would additionally require the State Department of
Health Care Services to develop a process to maximize federal
financial participation for the health care services provided by
counties to juveniles in their custody who would otherwise be
eligible for Medi-Cal. The bill would require the department to
consult with counties in the development of this process, and would
require the department to seek all federal approvals necessary to
implement the process. The bill would also limit application of this
process to counties that elect to voluntarily provide the nonfederal
share of expenditures for health care services, and would require
that the federal financial participation associated with services
provided pursuant to the process be paid to the participating
counties. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Counties provide health care services to juvenile offenders
committed to their custody, including inpatient hospital services,
for which federal financial participation may be available.
   (b) Current law provides that an individual under 21 years of age
who is an inmate of a public institution shall have his or her
Medi-Cal services suspended for up to one year.
   (c) The eligibility procedures of the State Department of Health
Care Services currently do not allow the state to receive federal
financial participation for health care services provided to
juveniles in detention facilities whose Medi-Cal eligibility has been
either terminated or suspended, even though federal financial
participation may be available.
   (d) Pursuant to Section 5072 of the Penal Code and Section 14053.7
of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the department is authorized
to develop a process to maximize federal financial participation for
inpatient hospital services to adult inmates residing in a state
prison facility.
   (e) To reduce the fiscal strain on counties, it is imperative that
the department work with counties to develop and implement a similar
process to allow counties to obtain federal financial participation
based on county expenditures for inpatient hospital services provided
to juveniles in their custody.
  SEC. 2.  Section 14053.8 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   14053.8.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
department shall develop a process to maximize federal financial
participation for health care services provided by counties to
juveniles who, but for being detained in a juvenile facility, are
otherwise eligible for Medi-Cal pursuant to this chapter or under a
Coverage Expansion and Enrollment Demonstration (CEED) project
pursuant to Part 3.6 (commencing with Section 15909). This process
shall be coordinated, to the extent possible, with the processes and
procedures established pursuant to Section 14053.7 of this code and
Section 5072 of the Penal Code.
   (b) The department shall consult with counties in the development
of the process pursuant to this section.
   (c) The department shall seek all federal approvals necessary to
implement the process developed pursuant to this section.
   (d) The process developed pursuant to this section shall be
implemented in only those counties that elect to voluntarily provide
the nonfederal share of expenditures for health care services to the
juveniles described in subdivision (a).
   (e) The federal financial participation associated with services
provided pursuant to the process implemented under this section shall
be paid to the participating counties.