Eligibility.

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 provides for the suspension of Medi-Cal benefits to an inmate of a public institution, which ends on the date they are no longer an inmate of a public institution or one year from the date they become an inmate of a public institution, whichever is sooner. Existing federal law, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, prohibits a state from terminating Medi-Cal eligibility for an eligible juvenile if they are an inmate of a public institution, authorizes the suspension of Medicaid benefits to that eligible juvenile, and requires a state to conduct a redetermination of Medicaid eligibility or process an application for medical assistance under the Medicaid program for an eligible juvenile who is an inmate of a public institution. Under existing state law, commencing October 1, 2020, the suspension of Medi-Cal benefits to an inmate of a public institution who is a juvenile, as defined in federal law, ends when the individual is no longer an eligible juvenile pursuant to federal law or one year from the date the individual becomes an inmate of a public institution, whichever is later. This bill would instead require, commencing October 1, 2020, the suspension of Medi-Cal benefits to an inmate of a public institution who is not a juvenile, as defined, to end on the date they are no longer an inmate of a public institution or 3 years from the date they become an inmate of a public institution, whichever is sooner. The bill would also require, commencing October 1, 2020, the suspension of Medi-Cal benefits to an inmate of a public institution who is a juvenile, as defined, on the date that the individual is no longer an inmate of a public institution or 3 years after the date the individual is no longer an eligible juvenile under federal law, whichever is later.