Public health.

Existing law imposes limits on the amount of income and personal and real property an individual or family may possess in order to be eligible for public aid, including under the CalFresh program, including specifying the allowable value of a licensed vehicle retained by an applicant for, or recipient of, that aid. This bill would change the term "licensed vehicle" to "motor vehicle" for these purposes. Under existing law, with certain exceptions, every individual, as a condition of eligibility for aid under the CalWORKs program, is required to participate in certain welfare-to-work activities for a period of 24 months. Existing law provides that any month in which certain conditions exist shall not be counted as one of the 24 months of participation. This bill would make a clarifying change to these provisions. This bill would also make a nonsubstantive technical change to these provisions. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law requires, to the extent that federal financial participation is available, and pursuant to a demonstration project or waiver of federal law, the department to establish specified pilot projects in up to 8 counties, known as Coordinated Care Initiative counties. This bill would correct an erroneous cross-reference with respect to a provision of law relating to Coordinated Care Initiative counties. Existing law establishes the Local Revenue Fund, a continuously appropriated fund that allocates Vehicle License Fund moneys and sales tax moneys. Existing law creates various accounts within the Local Revenue Fund, including the Sales Tax Account and the Sales Tax Growth Account, which each contain various subaccounts. Existing law, for the 2013–14 fiscal year and subsequent fiscal years, allocates funds to the Social Services Subaccount, Health Subaccount, and Mental Health Subaccount of the Sales Tax Account using specified calculations. This bill would modify the calculations used to allocate moneys to the above-described subaccounts, and would also require the Controller to transfer funds between the Social Services Subaccount and the Health Subaccount in an amount not to exceed $300 million for the 2013–14 fiscal year, or one billion dollars in any subsequent fiscal year, as specified, thereby making at appropriation. Existing law requires counties, through a choice of methodologies, to provide specified health services to eligible county residents who are indigent. Existing law authorizes counties to receive funding for this program from the Health Subaccount by either proving actual costs or by electing to receive 60% of the funds that would otherwise have been allocated to them, and would establish a default contribution for counties that fail to make a choice or to inform the Director of Health Care Services by a specified date. Existing law places the difference between prior fiscal year contributions to counties from the Health Subaccount and the new contributions to counties in the Family Support Subaccount, which is established within the Sales Tax Account, to be used by counties for the CalWORKs program, as specified. With respect to the redirection of funds to the Family Support Subaccount, existing law requires counties to determine the amount or percentage of funding to be redirected and to provide that calculation to the department by a specified date. Existing law provides a specified process to be used if the department disagrees with a county's determination. Existing law authorizes the county to submit a petition to the County Health Care Funding Resolution Committee if no agreement between the parties is reached by a specified date. Existing law also establishes an expedited formal appeal process by which a county may contest the determinations, as specified. This bill would make technical changes to these provisions and revise the deadlines by which counties must comply with the provisions described above. Existing law requires the department, in consultation with the counties, to determine the historical low-income shortfall between Medi-Cal and uninsured revenues and the costs incurred by county public hospital health systems for health services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries and uninsured patients. In determining this shortfall, the department is required to apply against that shortfall county indigent realignment amounts, special local health funds specifically restricted for indigent care, amounts from other specified sources of funding, including unrestricted health care funds and one-time funds received or carried forward by a county public hospital health system, and then gains from all other payers. This bill would require the department, once the department has accounted for amounts for county indigent realignment and special local health funds specifically restricted for indigent care, to determine and apply against the shortfall amounts for special local health funds that are not restricted for indigent care, amounts imputed for county low-income health, and one-time and carry-forward revenues, as defined. The bill would require the department to determine these amounts on a historical basis for the 2008–09 to 2011–12 fiscal years, inclusive. This bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions. Existing law states the Legislature's intent to create a program in California that provides a Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) service benefit, through the LIHEAP block grant, to all recipient households of CalFresh, as specified. Existing law requires that, if the demand for the nominal LIHEAP service benefit exceeds allocated funding, the Department of Community Services and Development and the State Department of Social Services report that information to the Legislature and develop a plan to maintain the program as intended. This bill would delete those provisions. The bill would require that the nominal LIHEAP services benefit be funded through the LIHEAP grant allocated for outreach activities in accordance with state and federal requirements. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.