Bill Text: CA SB1339 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Public social services: intercounty transfers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2016-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 801, Statutes of 2016. [SB1339 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SB1339-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1339	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 11, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 31, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 28, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Monning

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2016

   An act to amend Section 11102 of, to add Section 10003 to, and to
repeal Sections 11053 and 11053.2 of, the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to public social services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1339, as amended, Monning. Public social services: intercounty
transfers.
   Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program under which, through a
combination of state and county funds and federal funds received
through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program,
each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified
low-income families.
   Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the
State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified
low-income persons are provided with health care services.
   Existing law establishes a statewide program to enable eligible
low-income persons to receive food stamps under the federal
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California
as CalFresh. Existing law requires counties to implement the
program, including determining eligibility and distributing CalFresh
benefits. Existing law requires the State Department of Social
Services to establish and implement a process of intercounty transfer
of eligibility for CalFresh benefits, and to take various regulatory
actions.
   Existing law requires the county where an applicant of a public
assistance program lives to be responsible for paying for the aid and
requires transfer of the responsibility to pay, when that person
moves to another county, to the 2nd county as soon as
administratively possible, but not later than the first day of the
month following 30 days after notification to the 2nd county.
   This bill would instead require the responsibility for payment of
aid to transfer to the 2nd county as soon as administratively
possible and within 30 days after either county becomes aware of the
aid recipient's move.
   Under existing law, a recipient of aid who is changing residence
from one county to another within the state is required to notify the
county paying aid to the recipient of the move, and to apply for a
redetermination of eligibility within the new county of residence.
Existing law imposes various requirements on the relevant counties,
including requiring the county to which the recipient has moved to
determine the recipient's continued eligibility for payment of aid
and, to the extent possible, the recipient's eligibility for the
Medi-Cal program.
   This bill would delete those provisions relating to the notice and
redetermination of aid procedures for when a recipient of aid
changes residence from one county to another within the state,
including the procedures for intercounty transfer of CalFresh
benefits. The bill would instead require the recipient to notify
either the county from which he or she moves or the county to which
he or she moves of the change of residence, and as soon as either
county is aware of the move, would require that county to initiate an
intercounty transfer for specified public social service benefits,
which shall be transferred within 30 days after the county becomes
aware of the recipient's move. The bill would prohibit, to the extent
permitted by federal law and regulation, the new county of residence
from interviewing recipients from another county to determine
continued eligibility for the CalWORKs or CalFresh programs until the
next scheduled recertification or redetermination, and would require
case file documents to be shared electronically between the prior
county of residence and the new county of residence. The bill would
provide that a Medi-Cal beneficiary moving to a new county is
entitled to  medical assistance   the full scope
of benefits for which he or she is enrolled  in the county that
he or she is residing in at the  time and would require the
beneficiary to, if he or she  time. For a beneficiary
required to receive services through a Medi-Cal managed care health
plan, who moves to another county, but  is still enrolled in the
managed care health plan in the county from which he or she moved
and needs services in the new county,  the bill would require the
beneficiary,  upon request,  to  be disenrolled
 immediately   as   an expedited
disenrollment  from his or her managed care  health 
plan and  either   to  receive services
through the fee-for-services delivery system  or be 
 until he or she is  enrolled in a Medi-Cal managed care
 health  plan in the new county. Because this bill would
impose additional duties on counties with regard to the provision of
aid, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General
Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program.
   This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation
would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 10003 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   10003.  (a) It shall be the responsibility of a recipient changing
residence from one county to another to promptly notify either the
county from which he or she moves or the county to which he or she
moves of the change of residence. Recipients of CalWORKs, CalFresh,
or Medi-Cal shall have the right to report a change of residence in
person, in writing, telephonically, or, if the technology is
available, electronically online and shall be advised of this right
at the time of application and redetermination or recertification. If
a recipient moves from one county to another county, as soon as
either county is aware of the move, that county shall initiate an
intercounty transfer for all benefits under this division that the
recipient is receiving. Benefits for all programs for which the
recipient is eligible shall be transferred within 30 days after any
county becomes aware of the recipient's move in order to effectuate
the earliest possible start date.
   (b) To the greatest extent possible, the intercounty transfer
process shall be simple and client friendly and minimize workload for
county eligibility operations. The process shall ensure the
applicant or recipient does not need to provide copies of documents
that were previously provided to the prior county of residence, and
there is no interruption in benefits.
   (c) Case file documents shall be electronically shared between the
prior county of residence and the new county of residence, to the
extent possible, as specified by the relevant state departments.
   (d) To the extent permitted by federal law and regulation, the new
county of residence shall not interview recipients moving to that
county from another county to determine continued eligibility for
CalWORKs or CalFresh until the next scheduled recertification
pursuant to  Section  18910.1 or redetermination pursuant to
 section   Section  11265.
   (e) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) or any other law, a Medi-Cal
beneficiary moving to a new county shall be entitled to 
medical assistance   the full scope of benefits for
which he or she is enrolled  in the county that he or she is
residing in at the  time, even if he or she is enrolled in a
prepaid health care plan in another county.   time.
 For beneficiaries required to receive services through a
Medi-Cal managed care  health  plan, the following shall
apply: 
   (1) If the beneficiary moves to a county that provides Medi-Cal
services through a county organized health system, the beneficiary
shall be enrolled in that county organized health system plan on the
first day of the month the new county of residence assumes
responsibility for that beneficiary.  
   (2) 
    (1)  If the beneficiary  moves to another county and
 is still enrolled in  the   a 
managed care health plan in the county from which he or she moved and
needs services in the new county, the beneficiary shall, upon
 request,   request to the Medi-Cal Managed Care
Ombudsman,  be disenrolled  immediately  
as an expedited disenrollment  from his or her managed care
 plan and either receive services through the
fee-for-services delivery system or be enrolled in a Medi-Cal managed
care plan in the new county.   health plan effective
the next business day after the request is made.  A beneficiary
may  make this  request  an expedited  
disenrollment  by telephone, in person, or electronically
online. The request shall be available for submission by the
beneficiary electronically online to reduce administrative costs and
increase access to medical services for Medi-Cal beneficiaries. 
   (2) A beneficiary who is disenrolled from the managed care health
plan in the county from which he or she moved pursuant to paragraph
(1) shall receive services in the new county through the
fee-for-services delivery system until he or she is enrolled in a
managed care health plan in the new county.  
   (3) If the beneficiary moves to a county that provides Medi-Cal
services through a county organized health system, the beneficiary
shall be enrolled in that county organized health system plan on the
first day of the month the new county of residence assumes
responsibility for that beneficiary. If a beneficiary moves to a
county without a county organized health system, the usual health
plan choice process shall apply. 
   (f) Failure to report a move to a different county within the
state in itself shall not constitute a basis for an overpayment.
  SEC. 2.  Section 11053 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
repealed.
  SEC. 3.  Section 11053.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
repealed.
  SEC. 4.  Section 11102 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   11102.  (a) County residence is not a qualification for aid under
any public assistance program.
   (b) County responsibility for making aid payments is determined as
follows:
   (1) The county where the applicant lives shall accept the
application and shall be responsible for paying the aid.
   (2) Responsibility for payment of aid to a person qualifying for
and receiving aid from a county, who moves to another county in this
state to make his or her home, shall be transferred to the second
county as soon as administratively possible and within 30 days after
either county becomes aware of the aid recipient's move.
   (c) For purposes of public assistance, the county where an
applicant or recipient lives is determined as follows:
   (1) For a patient in a state hospital or institution, voluntary,
nonprofit, or proprietary facility, or other public or private
institution, the county where he or she was admitted.
   (2) For a person who has had to leave the county where he or she
normally lives, solely for the purpose of securing care not otherwise
available to him or her in a medical facility, the county where he
or she last maintained a living arrangement outside a medical
facility.
   (3) For a person who, on or after July 1, 1969, has been released
or discharged from a state hospital, for a period not to exceed three
years from the date of that release, the county where he or she was
admitted to the hospital.
   (4) For a person who, prior to July 1, 1969, has been released on
leave of absence from a state hospital, the county where he or she
was admitted.
  SEC. 5.  No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code shall be made for purposes of implementing this
act.
  SEC. 6.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.