California Health Benefit Exchange Holds Historic First Meeting
The California Health Benefit Exchange Board held its first
meeting on April 20, 2011. The federal Affordable Care Act
requires the establishment of health benefit exchanges that allow
individuals and small businesses to purchase coverage. For more
information about the health benefit exchange provision in
federal law, see the CSAC
Fact Sheet.
Several county First 5 Commissions have filed suit against the
Brown Administration over the state’s redirection of $1 billion
in First 5 (Proposition 10, Children and Families Act of 1998)
funds to Medi-Cal.
Hospital Funding Package Heading to Governor’s Desk
The Legislature fast-tracked two measures related to hospital
funding and the state budget this week. SB 90 by President pro
Tempore Darrell Steinberg and AB 113 by Assembly Member Bill
Monning cleared both houses of the Legislature and will be sent
to the Governor for action.
AB 518 (Wagner) – Support
As Amended on March 23, 2011
AB 518, a bill by Assembly Member Donald Wagner, would continue
to protect elder and dependent adults from financial abuse by
eliminating the sunset date on the reporting of suspected abuse
by financial institutions.
Counties support AB 518, which was passed by the Assembly Aging
and Long-Term Care Committee on March 23. The bill will be heard
next in the Assembly Public Safety Committee, but has not yet
been set for a hearing.
SB 36 (Simitian) – Support
As Introduced on December 6, 2011
SB 36, by Senator Joe Simitian, would allow counties to draw down
federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding for
children’s health insurance.
SB 36 (Simitian) – Support
As Introduced on December 6, 2011
SB 36, by Senator Joe Simitian, would allow counties to draw down
federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding for
children’s health insurance.
Conference Committee Actions on Health & Human Services
The Joint Budget Conference Committee took action to close out
items yesterday that, in most cases, would enact additional cuts
to health and human services programs. The outline below refers
only to actions taken by the Committee on March 3 – all other
actions previously reported in the CSAC Bulletin remain in the
Conference Committee’s final report. In total, the Legislature
adopted $6 billion in cuts to health and human services
programs.
AB 1066 (Pérez) – Pending
As Introduced on February 18, 2011
AB 1066, by Assembly Speaker John Pérez, has been introduced to
clean up some of the technical language contained in last year’s
Section 1115 Medicaid Hospital Financing Demonstration Waiver
bills, SB 208 (Steinberg) and AB 302 (Pérez).
Governor Proposes Streamlining State Oversight of Mental Health
Services Act Funds
The Department of Finance (DOF) released a letter to Senate
Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Chair Mark Leno yesterday
seeking to simplify state oversight of the Mental Health Services
Act (MHSA, or Proposition 63 of 2004) by amending the statute to
allow counties to receive MHSA funds directly.
Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 and Senate Budget and Fiscal
Review Subcommittee No. 3 concluded their hearings last week.
Many of the significant budget cuts remain open and presumably
will be dealt with by the full budget committees in each house
and by the conference committee on the budget. The full budget
committees will be meeting later this week. The CalWORKs and
Medi-Cal cuts and the realignment proposal are open items.
The Assembly and Senate continued health and human services
budget hearings this week. Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1
discussed the Medi-Cal and Healthy Families cuts and the CalWORKs
cuts. The subcommittee held all the major cut proposals open.
Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 3 heard
testimony on the mental health budget and the mental health
realignment proposal. Additionally the subcommittee discussed the
In-Home Supportive Services budget. The subcommittee also held
all major cut proposals and realignment open.
The Assembly and Senate began their budget deliberations this
week. California Health and Human Services Secretary Diana Dooley
appeared before both committees to communicate the gravity of the
budget situation. She acknowledged the Legislature will be
considering difficult budget cuts that no one likes. Secretary
Dooley also made herself available to the Legislature as they
work on the budget.
CSAC Health and Human Services Technical Realignment Work Group
To Meet Friday
The CSAC Health and Human Services Technical Realignment Work
Group is being resurrected for a meeting on Friday, January 21,
to evaluate Governor Brown’s proposal to realign a series of
human services programs to counties.
The CSAC Budget Action Bulletin released on Monday
contains a detailed description of the health and human services
budget proposals, including the realignment proposal. Since
Monday, CSAC has obtained additional details on some of the
proposals. The following are updates to that document.
The Department of Health Care Services is expected to release the
application for the Low Income Health Program (LIHP) today.
Please check the Department’s website for
the application. In addition, the Department updated the site in
the last few weeks, including the Frequently Asked Questions
section. Counties are encouraged to check the site regularly for
new information.
Blue Shield of California Foundation Awards Additional County
Coverage Initiative Grants
The Blue Shield of California Foundation has awarded an
additional $1.7 million in grant funding to 10 counties to assist
with expanding health care coverage to low-income residents.
Due to the pressing issues affecting health and human services
programs, the CSAC Health and Human Services Policy Committee
will meet monthly in 2011. The Committee anticipates grappling
with federal health care reform, the implementation of the new
Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver, and state budget
proposals.
On November 17, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Wynne Carvill
ordered a temporary halt to the Governor’s veto of $256 million
in state funding for Stage 3 CalWORKs child care
services.
The CSAC Health and Human Services Policy Committee met on
November 17 with more than 20 supervisors and 60 county staff and
affiliates in attendance. A complete agenda packet is available
on the CSAC website.
