BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 614
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 2, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Al Muratsuchi, Chair
AB 614 (Chávez) - As Introduced: February 20, 2013
SUBJECT : Veterans' homes of California: priority admission
SUMMARY : Gives priority admission to the California Veterans
Homes to certain people, as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Leaves the existing admissions priority system in place until
January 1, 2014.
2)On and after January 2014, grants priority admission as
follows:
a) First, to veterans who are recipients of the Medal of
Honor or who were POWs.
b) Second, to veterans whose financial status makes them
unable to pay for necessary hospital or domiciliary care.
c) Third, to veterans who served during a time of war.
EXISTING LAW : Provides that:
1)Except as provided in Military and Veterans Code section
1012.4, the home is for aged and disabled persons who served
in the Armed Forces of the United States of America who:
a) Were discharged or released from active duty under
honorable conditions from service,
b) Are eligible for hospitalization or domiciliary care in
a veterans' facility in accordance with the rules and
regulations of the United States Department of Veterans
Affairs, and
c) Are bona fide residents of California at the time of
application;
2)Spouses of eligible veterans are also able to live in the
Homes if all of the following conditions, as are applicable,
are satisfied:
a) Space is available.
b) Joint residency will be in the best interests of the
home member, as determined by the administrator.
c) The spouse is a bona fide resident of this state at the
time of application for admission to the home and either is
married to, and has resided with, the home member for at
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least one year, or is the widow or widower of a recipient
of the Medal of Honor or a former prisoner of war (POW).
d) The home member and spouse agree to pay the fees and
charges for joint residency, or for a widow or widower, for
the residency, that the administrator may establish.
3)Veterans who qualify for benefits under this chapter due to
service during a time of war shall be given priority over
veterans who qualify due to service during a time of peace.
4)Veterans who qualify for benefits under this chapter who are
recipients of the Medal of Honor or who were prisoners of war
(POWs) shall be given priority over all other qualified
veterans, regardless of the level of care required.
5)Prior to the admission of a veteran as a member of the home,
and at any time during which a veteran is a member of the
home, the department may investigate the veterans' financial
status to insure that the veteran is unable to pay for
necessary hospital or domiciliary care outside of the home.
The department may contract with any other state agency to
conduct such an investigation in its behalf.
Furthermore, existing regulations state (all references are to
the California Code of Regulations, Title 12)
(a) The Veterans Home shall admit veterans on a first come,
first served basis subject to the limitations or
requirements of Sections 980 and 1012 of the Military and
Veterans Code.
(b) The Veterans Home shall evaluate requests for an urgent
or priority admission date with special emphasis to be
unbiased with respect to the state veteran population
breakdown (in terms of ethnicity and geographic location),
and to take into account age as well as socioeconomic
needs. An urgent or priority admission is defined as an
admission granted as an exception to the Veterans Home
waiting list as described in Section 502.2. The Veterans
Home shall review each application for an urgent or
priority admission for the following factors:
(1) Social, economic hardship, age, and disability needs.
Examples of social factors are the veteran's: a. ability to
handle living together in a group situation; b. ability to
get along well with others; c. willingness to accept
counseling services; d. needs for companionship.
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The economic factors considered are whether a hardship
exists for the veteran living outside the Home that could
be eliminated by Home membership or whether the cost of the
veteran's health care outside the Home is greater. For
example, with all other factors being equal, a homeless
veteran's request for urgent admission shall receive the
higher preference. (Emphasis added.)
Section 1012 of the Military and Veterans Code states that
the Home is for aged and disabled persons who served in the
armed forces of the United States, therefore in considering
requests for an urgent or priority admission date, with all
other factors being equal, the older veterans (age 62 and
higher) shall receive the higher preference.
With respect to a veteran's disability, the Veterans Home
shall evaluate whether the Home has the proper facilities
to service the veteran's disability needs.
(2) Geographic, to assure no inequity between the southern
and northern part of the State.
(3) Ethnicity, to assure no inequity in relationship to the
ethnic breakdown of California veterans population.
Therefore, with all other factors being equal, the Veterans
Home shall give the higher preference to the ethnic group
that is under represented based on historical admission
statistics.
(4) Distinguished record and medal awards. With all other
factors being equal, the Veterans Home shall grant an
urgent or priority admission first to the veteran with a
distinguished record or medal award and second to all other
veterans.
(5) Readmission. If the veteran is applying for
readmission, then the Veterans Home shall review the
veteran's past record at the Home to make sure that there
are no problems that must be resolved prior to readmission
(e.g. delinquent monetary fees or charges owed by the
veteran to the Home).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown at this time.
COMMENTS : Under the current system, the ability to pay of
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applicants for admission to the home is supposed to be
considered under regulations as is the status of being homeless
"? with all other factors being equal, a homeless veteran's
request for urgent admission shall receive the higher
preference." In addition, the current system ranks applicants
to the home thus:
1. Medal of Honor Recipients
2. POWs
3. Veterans who served during "wartime"
4. Veterans spouses
However, according to the author:
Current law states that before a veteran is admitted to a
veteran home the department may investigate the veterans'
financial status to insure that the veteran is unable to
pay for necessary hospital or domiciliary care outside of
the home. This investigation is not common practice in most
veteran homes.
The author proposes to amend the bill's current form in
committee to leave the current statutory framework in place but
to make a change to Military and Veteran Code section 1012.1 to
require an investigation of the veteran's financial status prior
to admission:
MVC 1012.1: (a) Prior to the admission of a veteran as a
member of the home , and at any time during which a veteran
is a member of the home, the department may shall
investigate the veterans' financial status to insure that
the veteran is unable to pay for necessary hospital or
domiciliary care outside of the home.
(b) The department may at any time during which a veteran
is a member of the home investigate the veterans' financial
status to insure that the veteran is unable to pay for the
necessary hospital or domiciliary care outside of the home.
(c) The Department may promulgate and maintain regulation
to implement this section and may also The department may
contract with any other state agency to conduct such an
investigation in its behalf.
This change makes the determination of the financial status of
the applicant at admission mandatory, which addresses the
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concern that such investigations are not routinely done. It also
ensures that the financial status of applicants is properly
investigated and informing their ranking for admission under the
current regulations.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : John Spangler / V. A. / (916) 319-3550