BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 1223 (Cook) - Medi-Cal: Public Assistance Reporting
Information System
Amended: August 24, 2011 Policy Vote: Health 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: July 2, 2012 Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1223 would require the Department of Health
Care Services use the federal Public Assistance and Reporting
Information System to identify Medi-Cal enrollees who may be
eligible for federal veteran's benefits and assist them in
obtaining federal veteran's benefits.
Fiscal Impact: Potential annual net savings to the Medi-Cal
program in the low millions, depending out outreach efforts by
the Department and local county veteran service officers (50
percent General Fund, 50 percent federal funds).
Background: The Department of Health Care Services operates the
Medi-Cal program which provide health care services to low
income children and their parents, the blind, aged, and
disabled. One of the major expenditure areas under the Medi-Cal
program is support for long-term care.
According to an analysis by the Legislative Analyst's Office, as
many as 144,000 veterans or their dependents are enrolled in
Medi-Cal. Many of those beneficiaries may be eligible for
veteran's health benefits, including long-term care benefits,
potentially with lower cost sharing required of the veteran.
Also, under state law, Medi-Cal can claim assets from a former
beneficiary's estate to recoup costs for long-term care, whereas
under federal law, the veteran's benefit system does not do so.
Under current law (AB 1183, Committee on Budget, Chapter 758 of
2008), the Department has operated a pilot project to use
information in the federal Public Assistance and Reporting
Information System to identify Medi-Cal enrollees who may be
eligible for federal veteran's benefits. The Department, in
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coordination with the Department of Veteran's Affairs and local
county veteran service officers, has worked to contact those
enrollees to advise them of the federal benefits they are
entitled to and the potential financial benefits to the veteran
to access federal services instead of Medi-Cal. The Department
has implemented the pilot project in ten counties and has
realized two year net savings of about $1.4 million (50 percent
General Fund, 50 percent federal funds).
Proposed Law: AB 1223 would require the Department of Health
Care Services use the federal Public Assistance and Reporting
Information System to identify Medi-Cal enrollees who may be
eligible for federal veteran's benefits and assist them in
obtaining federal veteran's benefits.
The bill exempts the program from the requirements of the
Administrative Procedures Act (beginning at section 11340 of the
Government Code) and exempts any contracts entered into by the
Department from the Public Contract Code (beginning at section
11250 of the Government Code).
Related Legislation: AB 1869 (J. Perez) would require the Office
of the Patient Advocate to provide information about veteran's
health benefits to the public. That bill will be heard in this
committee.
Staff Comments: While the pilot project realized a net savings,
the Department expended only about $150,000 in staff costs to
identify Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are veterans and may benefit
from switching to federal benefits. The state Department of
Veteran's Affairs and local officials did not receive any
additional resources to assist in contacting eligible veterans.
According to the Department, the county veteran service officers
were only able to contact about 25 percent of the veterans
identified by the Department.
If the Department extends this program statewide, as authorized
under the bill, additional resources would likely increase
future cost savings, particularly if the Department was able to
provide reimbursement to the Department of Veteran's Affairs and
local county veteran service officers to cover their costs.
AB 1223 (Cook)
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