Indigent health care: information and planning.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on what happens if counties do not comply with the new requirements or specify funding sources for these changes.

Health Care Help for Poor People: Information and Planning

This law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to create a website with information about health care services for poor people who don't have insurance, and it asks counties to make plans to help these people get better health care.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the State Department of Health Care Services to set up an internet website by July 1, 2027, where people can find information about safety-net health care services for those without insurance.
• The website must include details on each county's medical programs for uninsured individuals and other useful resources.
• Asks the department to review the website’s content regularly with help from certain groups.
• Requires counties to create plans by January 1, 2028, showing how they will provide health care to poor people who need it more because of less access to insurance.
• Each county's plan must include information on expected increases in patients and costs, as well as funding sources.

Who It Names or Affects

• The State Department of Health Care Services
• Counties across California
• Poor people without health insurance

Terms To Know

Medi-Cal

A government program that helps low-income Californians pay for medical care.

safety-net health care services

Health care provided to people who cannot afford regular insurance or other forms of coverage.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if counties do not follow the new requirements.
• It is unclear how much money will be needed for these changes and where it will come from.

Official Summary Text

AB 2368, as amended, Bonta.
Indigent health care: information and planning.
Existing law requires each county to provide aid, commonly known as a general assistance program, to the county’s indigent residents who are not supported by other means and are ineligible for the Medi-Cal program, as specified. Existing law sets forth various provisions relating to county-based health care services for indigent individuals and to reporting systems for those services.
This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services, by July 1, 2027, to establish an internet website where the public can access information on safety-net health care services in the state. The bill would require that the website include certain information and resources, including, among other items, information about each county medically indigent health care program for uninsured individuals. The bill would require the department, in
consultation with certain entities, to review the information and resources on the website, as specified.
The bill would require each county, no later than January 1, 2028, to prepare and submit to the department a plan to operate programs to provide health care to medically indigent
individuals, as necessary to meet additional need due to reduced access to health care coverage.
individuals.
The bill would require that the plan include information on projected caseload and expenditure
increases,
increases and
projected investment,
and assessment of funding sources,
as specified. By creating new planning duties for counties, the 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 the statutory provisions noted above.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF