Schools: health care coverage: enrollment assistance.

Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to make rules for the physical examination of pupils that will ensure proper care of the pupils and proper secrecy with regard to any defect noted. Existing law requires a pupil, while enrolled in kindergarten in a public school, or while enrolled in first grade in a public school if the pupil was not previously enrolled in kindergarten in a public school, to present proof, no later than May 31 of the school year, of having received an oral health assessment by a licensed dentist or other licensed or registered dental health professional operating within his or her scope of practice that was performed no earlier than 12 months prior to the date of the initial enrollment of the pupil. Existing law prohibits a school district from permitting access to pupil records, other than directory information, to any person without parental consent or without a judicial order, except to specified persons under certain circumstances, including to a pupil 16 years of age or older or who has completed grade 10. Existing law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , requires an applicable individual to ensure that he or she, and any dependent of that individual, is covered under minimum essential coverage for each month beginning after 2013. This bill would require a public school, for purposes of the 2015–16, 2016–17, and 2017–18 school years, to add an informational item to its enrollment forms, or amend an existing enrollment form in order to provide the parent or legal guardian information about health care coverage options and enrollment assistance. The bill would authorize a school, in order to fulfill this requirement, to either use a template, develop an informational item, or amend an existing enrollment form to provide the information. The bill would authorize a school to also include a factsheet with its enrollment forms explaining basic information about affordable health care coverage options for children and families. The bill would require the State Department of Education to develop a standardized template for the factsheet and the informational item or amendment and would require the department to make those templates available on its Internet Web site on or before August 1, 2015, and provide written copies to a school district upon request. By requiring schools to perform additional duties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.