BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 346|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 346
Author: Beall (D)
Amended: 9/6/13
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
SENATE FLOOR : 26-11, 4/29/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Calderon, Corbett, Correa, De Le�n,
DeSaulnier, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso,
Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Monning, Padilla, Pavley, Price,
Roth, Steinberg, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines,
Huff, Knight, Nielsen, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu, Vacancy, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Public social services: records
SOURCE : Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
DIGEST : This bill includes within the definition of "public
social services," publicly funded health care services
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administered or supervised by the Department of Social Services
(DSS) or the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), except
as specified. This bill clarifies existing law.
Assembly Amendments narrow the scope of this bill to clarifying
the definition of "public social services" and make other,
technical changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Requires all applications and records concerning any
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 DSS or 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.
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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, to provide specified health
care services to medically indigent persons.
This bill:
1.Includes within the definition of "public social services,"
publicly funded health care services administered or
supervised by DSS or DHCS, except that, for purposes of this
bill, the term does not include the Medi-Cal program.
2.Clarifies that this definition does not affect or alter the
exclusions contained in existing law, as specified.
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 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
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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
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/10/13)
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors (source)
California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems
California Food Policy Advocates
California State Association of Counties
County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors
County Welfare Directors Association of California
Lassen County Administrative Services
LIUNA Locals 777 & 792
Urban Counties Caucus
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Existing law allows applications and
applicant records to be shared with other public agencies for
the purpose of establishing eligibility for, or administering,
public social services. Some counties have interpreted this as
authority to share client information between their health and
social services departments. However, the bill's sponsor, the
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, sees the current
confidentiality requirements, which explicitly allow information
sharing to take place between county welfare departments,
without any mention of other county departments or agencies, as
barriers that prohibit the exchange of information even when the
information would be shared for the client's benefit. According
to the bill's sponsor, system interoperability within counties
is essential in providing clients timely access to the services
for which they are eligible.
The author states, "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 LIHP. As we
look to implement the Affordable Care Act, which includes an
emphasis on having no wrong door, we want to make sure that we
are doing everything we can to make enrollment in health and
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human services programs as easy as possible for clients. SB 346
would further this goal."
RM/JL:ej 9/10/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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