BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1640
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1640 (Mitchell)
As Amended August 21, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |50-24|(May 31, 2012) |SENATE: |25-12|(August 22, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY : Requires payment of California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids Act (CalWORKs) aid and CalFresh benefits
to otherwise eligible pregnant mothers. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires payment of CalWORKs aid to an eligible pregnant
mother who is 18 years of age or younger in a family without a
needy child qualified for aid upon verification of pregnancy
dependent upon the Cal-Learn Program being operative.
2)Requires payment of CalWORKs aid to an eligible pregnant
mother for the month in which the birth is anticipated and for
the three-month period immediately prior to the month in which
the birth is anticipated.
The Senate amendments clarify that the payment of CalWORKS aid
be made to a pregnant mother who is 18 years of age or younger
in a family without a needy child dependent upon the Cal-Learn
Program being operative or to an eligible pregnant mother in
their third trimester.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires payment of CalWORKs aid to a pregnant mother in a
family without a needy child qualified for aid for the month
in which the birth is anticipated and for the three-month
period immediately prior to the month in which the birth is
anticipated.
2)Requires payment of CalWORKs aid to a pregnant mother in a
family without a needy child qualified for aid upon
verification of pregnancy if the pregnant woman is also
eligible for the Cal-Learn Program (providing intensive case
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management and other services to teenagers under age 19
without a high school diploma or equivalent, who are pregnant
or parenting).
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, required payment of CalWORKs aid and
CalFresh benefits to otherwise eligible pregnant mothers who are
18 years of age or younger at any time after verification of
pregnancy.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)First-year CalWORKs grant, services, and administrative costs
of $0.9 million (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF)/General Fund) in 2012-13; ongoing costs of up to $3.0
million for approximately 260 pregnant teens per month to
receive three additional months of benefits, assuming the
Cal-Learn Program is operative.
2)Potential minor increase in Medi-Cal costs (Federal/General
Fund) by expanding eligibility to full-scope Medi-Cal and
Medi-Cal managed care enrollment to specified pregnant teens.
Potential one-time automation costs for MEDS programming to
establish earlier eligibility for a subset of pregnant women
in the Medi-Cal 1931(b) Program.
COMMENTS : Under current law, a pregnant woman with no other
eligible children in the household is not eligible for basic
needs cash assistance through CalWORKs until the third
trimester. Established in 1993 (SB 35 (Budget Committee),
Chapter 69, Statutes of 1993, and SB 1078 (Watson), Chapter
1252, Statutes of 1993), the Cal-Learn Program addresses,
through CalWORKs, the unique educational, vocational, training,
health, and other social service needs of pregnant teens and
teenage parents to help them achieve self-sufficiency.
Low-income, pregnant women are also eligible to receive
pregnancy Medi-Cal, which is a fee-for-service health benefit
that covers pregnancy related healthcare. Once a woman becomes
eligible for CalWORKs or Cal-Learn, she receives 1931(b)-linked
Managed Care Medi-Cal. As the author points out, under current
law, women who become eligible for CalWORKs in their third
trimester must switch healthcare programs and often their
provider.
Need for this bill : According to the author, the
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delayed-eligibility rule to receive CalWORKs cash aid "is over
two decades old and pre-dates many recent academic studies
showing that instability and stress felt by a pregnant woman can
have long-lasting impacts on the health and wellbeing of infants
and children." The author further says that:
By not ensuring uninterrupted supportive services to
the women who are experiencing multiple stressful
situations during their pregnancies, very poor women
are more likely to experience premature and
low-birth-rate babies and children are more likely to
experience health and behavioral challenges which may
have lifelong impacts on the children's development.
These challenges may also interfere with the parent's
ability to achieve self-sufficiency.
According to the Urban Institute, California is in the minority
of states that require women to wait until the third trimester
to be eligible for grants through TANF, the federal program that
funds the state's CalWORKs program. This policy, the author
notes, not only impacts eligibility for basic cash assistance
for very low-income pregnant women, it also means they lack
continuity in their healthcare services.
In California, all low-income pregnant women with income below
200% of poverty are eligible for Medi-Cal. However, the type of
health care coverage a woman receives when she is pregnant
depends on whether or not she is participating in the CalWORKs
program. As a result, the author says, "these mostly first-time
mothers with incomes below poverty are asked to transfer their
healthcare coverage at the third trimester, when they become
eligible for CalWORKs and Medi-Cal Managed Care at the time when
pregnant women are just settling into the routine of regular
bi-monthly or weekly visits to their doctor."
The Western Center on Law & Poverty (WCLP), this bill's sponsor,
notes that "though women in their first and second trimesters of
pregnancy may be eligible for county benefits provided under
Welfare & Institutions Code Section 17000 cash aid, many
counties limit this assistance to 3 months for people who are
employable and there is no statewide standard of employability
for these programs." According to WCLP, "it is the experience
of many applicants that these programs will not enroll a
pregnant woman until they verify that she is not in her third
trimester, and therefore eligible for CalWORKs." Therefore,
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women with very little resources and no or little income may go
without any cash assistance. WCLP also notes the complicated
patchwork of state and federal policy with respect to work
requirements for pregnant women. This bill, at least for
pregnant mothers who are 18 years of age and younger, "makes it
clear," as WCLP says, "that California elects to protect the
CalFresh benefits for pregnant women to the maximum amount
allowed under federal law."
Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
FN: 0005439