BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1703
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1703 (Hall) - As Introduced: February 13, 2014
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:6 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill adds reading services for visually impaired consumers
to the list of authorized activities that can be provided by
In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) providers. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Adds assistance in reading and completing financial and other
documents for a recipient who is blind or visually impaired,
or who has another disability that affects his or her ability
to read.
2)Requires the Director of Health Care Services to seek any
federal approvals necessary to ensure that Medicaid funds may
be used in implementing this service.
FISCAL EFFECT
If 50% of the approximately 10,000 visually impaired or blind
individuals receiving IHSS services were authorized for this
service and required about 1.5 hours per month in reading
assistance, the cost would be about $900,000 in additional wages
annually.
Unknown costs to provide reading services to IHSS recipients who
have "another disability that affects his or her ability to
read."
Unknown, but likely minor, costs to counties for social workers
to add eligibility determination for reading services to the
IHSS in-home assessment.
AB 1703
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COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The California Council of the Blind writes:
"Although access to written information is very likely the
greatest impediment to the ability of persons who are blind or
visually impaired to live independently, the reading and
completion of documents is not a service covered under the
IHSS program."
Currently, county welfare departments are required to provide
blind individuals information and referrals to community
public and no-profit organizations that provide reading
services. Proponents believe this requirement is inadequate
and that IHSS workers provide more timely and accessible
assistance.
This bill would add reading services for visually impaired IHSS
recipients to the list of eligible activities that can be
provided, and compensated, by the program. The bill limits
compensated reading services to financial or other documents and
would not include casual or recreational reading.
2)Clarifications needed . As drafted, the scope of "other
documents" (p.3, line 19) is unclear. If the author's intent
is to include only documents that directly impact daily living
activities, that should be clarified in the bill.
As drafted, the bill allows for reading assistance for not
only blind and visually impaired recipients, but also those
who have "another disability that affects his or her ability
to read" (p. 2, lines 20-21). However, this phrase is
unclear, and accordingly, the number of eligible recipients
and, thus, the cost of providing the service, is difficult to
calculate. Defining or otherwise clarifying this phrase will
better enable the service to reach its intended recipients.
3) Previous legislation . AB 1703 is a reintroduction of AB 238
(Beall) from 2007, which was passed by the Legislature but
vetoed by then Governor Schwarzenegger.
In his veto message, the Governor wrote:
"I strongly support the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)
program which provides services to low-income aged, blind or
AB 1703
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disabled persons so they can remain safely in homes. My
Administration has worked hard to secure more than 1.7
billion in federal funds to protect these important services.
However, I cannot support expanding the program's scope to
include reading services. This expansion would add more than
one million dollars in new costs at a time of ongoing budget
challenges. We must balance our need for important program
services with our fiscal reality."
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081