BILL ANALYSIS
AB 52
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 1999
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Martin Gallegos, Chair
AB 52 (Cedillo) - As Amended: March 16, 1999
SUBJECT : Noncitizens.
SUMMARY : Requires continued eligibility for individuals who
would be eligible for various health programs but for the
passage of the federal Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity and Reconciliation Act of 1996. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires any person who would have been eligible for specified
benefits in effect on July 16, 1996, to continue to be
eligible regardless of immigration status, as long as all
other applicable requirements are met.
2)Applies continued eligibility for the following programs:
a) California Children's Services;
b) Genetically Handicapped Persons Program;
c) Alzheimer's Disease Program;
d) Traumatic Brain Injury Project;
e) Brain Damaged Adults Program;
f) Children's Mental Health Services;
g) Services for the Developmentally Disabled;
h) Adult and Older Mental Health System of Care;
i) Community Mental Health Services;
j) Early Mental Health Initiative; and
aa) Medi-Cal Long-term care.
3)Specifies that the provisions of this bill continuing the
above programs are declarative of existing law.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes various programs to administer health and mental
health services to children and adults in California.
2)Provides for services to persons with developmental
disabilities through the Department of Developmental Services
and regional centers.
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3)Provides for federal funding to assist in the provision of
special education services and other services for children
with disabilities.
4)Provides Medi-Cal benefits to documented aliens and state-only
long-term care to undocumented aliens.
5)Precludes, under federal law, the provision of federally
funded benefits, with specified exceptions, to certain aliens,
and precludes, with specified exceptions, these aliens from
receiving benefits funded exclusively from state or local
funds without enactment of new state legislation after August
22, 1996.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author and sponsor,
the California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative (CIWC), this
bill ensures that participants in these public programs
receive services regardless of changing immigration status.
According to CIWC, unless the legislature enacts this bill,
immigration screens will be imposed in programs that are
essential for the health of our most vulnerable residents -
seniors, persons with disabilities, and children. CIWC states
that denying these services will force immigrants to survive
without essential treatment and thereby endanger all
Californians, will result in higher costs for the state, and
will create an administrative burden that will threaten the
delivery system serving all residents.
2)BACKGROUND . The federal Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity and Reconciliation Act of 1996 prohibits, with
certain exceptions, the payment of state or local public
benefits to nonqualified aliens unless the state enacts a law
which affirmatively provides for such eligibility. In
response to this federal legislation, then-Governor Wilson
issued an executive order instructing state agencies to
implement regulations terminating eligibility for nonqualified
aliens. More than 200 programs were identified. This
executive order is still in effect.
3)SUPPORT . This bill is supported by the California Primary
Care Association (CPCA), which states that without passage of
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this bill, clinics will be faced with the difficult decision
of providing uncompensated critical health care or denying
this care to needy and potentially dangerous patients.
According to CPCA, denial or even delay in the provision of
critical health care has extremely dangerous public health
consequences. CPCA argues that this bill gives their member
clinics the ability to comply with their federal mandate to
service the poor without being forced to cut other important
health services or jeopardizing the economic viability of the
entire clinic.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
(MALDEF) also supports this bill, arguing that unless this
bill is enacted, critical health care programs will be denied
even to immigrants with legal permission to live and work in
this country.
4)PRIOR LEGISLATION . This bill is a reintroduction of AB 2031
(Cedillo) from last year, which was vetoed by the Governor.
In his veto message, the Governor stated that AB 2031 violated
the intent of the federal policy to discourage illegal
immigration by removing incentives for it and that the
specified programs did not fall within those he excluded for
"compassionate reasons."
5)RELATED LEGISLATION . SB 82 (Vasconcellos), pending in the
Senate Appropriations Committee, would provide that any alien
who is otherwise eligible for Medi-Cal services, but who does
not meet specified requirements relating to residency status,
is eligible for medically necessary pregnancy-related
services. SB 82 is identical to last year's SB 34
(Vasconcellos), which the Governor vetoed.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative (sponsor)
Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California
California Coalition of United Cerebral Palsy Associations
California Nurses Association
California Primary Care Association
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Mexican American Legal and Educational Fund
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National Immigration Law Center
Northern California Coalition for Immigrant Rights
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Vincent D. Marchand / HEALTH /
(916)319-2097