BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1223
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GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 1223 (Veterans Affairs Committee)
As Amended August 24, 2011
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(August 13, |SENATE: |36-0 |(July 6, 2012) |
| | |2012) | | | |
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(August 13, | | | |
| | |2012) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: V.A.
SUMMARY : Repeals language creating a two-year pilot program to
use the federal Public Assistance and Reporting Information
System (PARIS) to identify veterans and their dependents or
survivors who are enrolled in the Medi-Cal program and assists
them in obtaining federal veterans' health care benefits.
Specifically, this bill makes the pilot program permanent and
statewide.
The Senate amendments add a co-author to the bill.
EXISTING LAW provides that the Department of Health Care
Services (DHCS) administers a two-year, three-county pilot
program to utilize PARIS to identify veterans and their
dependents or survivors who are enrolled in the Medi-Cal program
and assist them in obtaining federal veterans' health care
benefits.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially the same
except Assembly Member Beth Gaines was not a co-author.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, potential annual net savings to the Medi-Cal program
in the low millions, depending on outreach efforts by DHCS and
local county veteran service officers (50% General Fund, 50%
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federal funds).
COMMENTS : Identifying and, as appropriate, assisting those
veterans to transition from Medi-Cal to the federal system for
coverage could result in cost savings to the state. Under
current law (AB 1183 (Budget Committee), Chapter 758, Statutes
of 2008), the DHCS has operated a pilot project to use
information in PARIS to identify Medi-Cal enrollees who may be
eligible for federal veteran's benefits. DHCS, in coordination
with the Department of Veterans 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. DHCS has implemented the pilot
project in 10 counties and has realized two year net savings of
about $1.4 million (50% General Fund, 50% federal funds).
An analysis conducted by the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO)
in 2007 stated that implementing PARIS could save the state
millions of dollars annually in General Fund costs by shifting
eligible veterans enrolled in Medi-Cal to the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) health care system.
According to the LAO report, 144,000 veterans and dependents on
Medi-Cal coverage could be eligible for comprehensive medical
care and health services through the USDVA health care system.
It is estimated that connecting only 10% of these veterans will
save the state $25 million annually.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
While I support efforts to inform veterans about the
health care options that best meet their needs,
current law already requires screening of Medi-Cal
beneficiaries for veteran status and allows for
expansion of the Public Assistance Reporting
Information System (PARIS) data match project beyond
the current pilot counties.
Rather than requiring the PARIS pilot project to be
implemented statewide, more effort should go into
understanding which health care benefits work best
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for veterans, and how that outreach can be most
effective before expending additional resources
statewide.
Analysis Prepared by: John Spangler / V. A. / (916) 319-3550
FN: 0005925