BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 346|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 346
Author: Beall (D)
Amended: 4/2/13
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-2, 4/9/13
AYES: Yee, Evans, Liu, Wright
NOES: Berryhill, Emmerson
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/23/13
AYES: Evans, Corbett, Jackson, Leno, Monning
NOES: Walters, Anderson
SUBJECT : Public social services: records
SOURCE : Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
DIGEST : This bill provides, for the purpose of complying with
confidentiality rules governing public social services, that if
a county administers public social services through more than
one county department or agency, each department or agency
administering a public social service shall be deemed a county
welfare department for purposes of administering that public
social service.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Requires all applications and records concerning any
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individual made or kept in connection with the administration
of any form of public social services to be confidential,
except as specified.
2.Provides that the above requirement shall not prohibit the
furnishing of this information to other public agencies to the
extent required for verifying eligibility of for other
purposes directly connected with the administration of public
social services.
3.Defines "public social services" to mean activities and
functions of state and local government administered or
supervised by the State Department of Social Services or the
Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and involved in
providing aid or services or both, including health care
services and medical assistance, to those people of the state
who, because of their economic circumstances or social
condition, are in need thereof and may benefit thereby.
4.Establishes the duty of a county or a city and county to
provide health care services to indigent and dependent poor
persons, also known as Medically Indigent Adults (MIAs), when
such persons are not supported and relieved by their relatives
or friends, by their own means, or by state hospitals or other
state or private institutions.
5.Establishes the Low Income Health Program (LIHP) as a federal
Medicaid demonstration project, and requires the DHCS to
authorize local LIHPs to provide specified health care
services to eligible individuals 19 to 64 years of age who are
not otherwise eligible for the Medi-Cal program or the
Children's Health Insurance Program with family incomes at or
below 133% of the federal poverty level.
6.Permits a county board of supervisors of any county with a
population of less than 300,000 to elect to participate in the
County Medical Services Program (CMSP), to provide specified
health care services to medically indigent persons.
This bill:
1.Provides, for the purpose of complying with confidentiality
rules governing public social services, that if a county
administers public social services through more than one
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county department or agency, each department or agency
administering a public social service shall be deemed a county
welfare department for purposes of administering that public
social service.
2.Clarifies, for the purposes of complying with confidentiality
rules governing public social services, and except pertaining
to Medi-Cal, that "public social services" includes publicly
funded health care services.
Background
Confidentiality of Public Social Services. Existing law
provides that all applications and records concerning applicants
of any public social service shall be confidential, except that
such information may be shared with other public agencies for
the purpose of verifying eligibility or for other purposes
directly connected with the administration of public social
services.
These confidentiality requirements explicitly exclude Medi-Cal,
since that program is accountable to various other federal and
state privacy protections.
Existing Eligibility Systems . The Statewide Automated Welfare
System (SAWS) is a federally required database that supports
eligibility and enrollment determinations for a variety of
public social service programs.
Additionally, many counties utilize the One-e-App system which
screens for eligibility for the majority of public social
service programs including Medi-Cal, GA, Medically Indigent
Programs, CalWORKS, CalFresh, and others.
Prior Legislation
AB 402 (Skinner, Chapter 504, Statutes of 2011) authorizes
school districts and county offices of education to share
information provided on the School Lunch program application
with the local agency that determines CalFresh program
eligibility, as provided.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 4/26/13)
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors (source)
California State Association of Counties
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT :
According to the author's office, SB 346 allows county human
services departments to more easily share client eligibility
information with county health departments in order to simplify
enrollment in public health care coverage programs such as the
Low-Income Health Program or the county Medically Indigent
Services Program.
The bill's sponsor, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors,
states that its county Social Services Agency determines
eligibility for Medi-Cal and other social service benefits such
as General Assistance, while the Santa Clara Valley Health and
Hospital System is responsible to administer the county's LIHP
and its Medically Indigent Services Program, known locally as
the Ability to Pay Determination Program. The Santa Clara
Valley Health and Hospital System, screens approximately 7,000
patients per month for public health coverage programs,
including Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and the Low Income Health
Program. The social services agency staff process approximately
3,000 Medi-Cal applications per month.
(RM/JL:ej) 4/26/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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