BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2706
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 14, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2706 (Hernandez) - As Amended: May 1, 2014
Policy Committee: EducationVote:5-1
Health 13-6
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires public schools, for the 2015-16 through
2017-18 school years, to ensure their enrollment forms include a
section that offers the parent or legal guardian of a pupil the
option of being referred to an entity that can provide
information regarding health care coverage options and
enrollment assistance. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires public schools, including charter schools, to add an
additional enrollment form, or amend an existing enrollment
form to provide the parent or guardian of a pupil the option
of being referred to a certified enrollment counselor, school
personnel who conduct health care coverage enrollment, or a
local nonprofit organization qualified to assist with health
care coverage enrollment.
2)Specifies that the information provided on the form or
amendment be considered a pupil record and the information
shall not be disclosed to any person other than as required by
these provisions. Requires the form or amendment to request,
but not require, the parent or guardian's contact information,
and consent to share that information, with specified
personnel.
3)Requires the form or amendment to include a check box, printed
in not less than 10 point font, with specific language about
access to affordable health care options. Allows a school to
include a fact sheet with its enrollment forms explaining
basic information about affordable health care coverage
options for children and families.
AB 2706
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4)Allows the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop
standardized templates for the form or amendments to be
provided to parents or guardians as well as the optional fact
sheet. Requires CDE to make these templates available on its
Internet Website and, upon request, provide written copies of
the template to a school district.
5)Prohibits a school district from discriminating against a
pupil who does not have health care coverage or from using any
information relating to a pupil's health care coverage or
interest in learning about health care coverage in any manner
that would bring harm to the pupil or the pupil's family.
FISCAL EFFECT
General Fund/Proposition 98 state-mandated costs to school
districts and charter schools in the range of $700,000 to $1.1
million. There are 6.2 million public school students attending
1,016 school districts and COEs and 1,018 charter schools.
These costs assume staff time for every district or charter
school to develop or amend, copy, distribute and process the
forms.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose. According to the author, the expansion of health
care coverage options under the federal Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (ACA) generated approximately 7 million
newly eligible Californians as of January 1, 2014. Of those 7
million, nearly 1 million children under the age 18 are
uninsured and 67% of these qualify for Medi-Cal. The author
contends that barriers exist for eligible populations to
enrollment in Medi-Cal including lack of awareness about the
programs, difficult application or re-enrollment processes,
and stigmas associated with enrolling into low-income health
insurance and other public programs. The author is concerned
that a significant number of eligible children will be left
behind in the absence proactive approaches such as this bill.
2)Concerns . This bill could create significant workload for
school districts and charter schools. While schools can be
partners in community efforts to enroll children in health
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care programs, ultimately, compliance with the ACA is an issue
that must be addressed outside of the schools. Rather than
require a school district or charter school to create and
process another form, the committee may wish to consider
authorizing a district or charter school to leverage existing
resources from community organizations designed to assist
families with enrollment options. School districts and
charter schools could also partner with local community health
centers to provide information to students and families.
3)Related legislation . AB 422 (Nazarian), Chapter 440, Statutes
of 2013, authorizes school districts to include information
regarding health care coverage available through the
California Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange), in
notifications and applications for the School Lunch Program,
effective January 1, 2014.
Analysis Prepared by : Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081