(a) It shall be the responsibility of a recipient of aid pursuant to this division changing residence from one county to another to promptly notify either the county from which he or she moves or the county to which he or she moves of the change of residence. Recipients of CalWORKs, CalFresh, or Medi-Cal shall have the option to report a change of residence in person, in writing, telephonically, or, if the technology is available, electronically online and shall be advised of these options at the time of application and redetermination or recertification. Within seven business days of notice of a new residence, the notified county shall initiate an intercounty transfer for all benefits under this division that the recipient is receiving, and benefits shall be transferred no later than the first day of the next available benefit month following 30 days after a county was notified pursuant to this section.
(b) To the greatest extent possible, the intercounty transfer process shall be simple and client friendly and minimize workload for county eligibility operations. The process shall ensure the applicant or recipient does not need to provide copies of documents that were previously provided to the prior county of residence, and there is no interruption in benefits.
(c) Case file documents shall be electronically shared between the prior county of residence and the new county of residence, to the extent possible, as specified by the relevant state departments.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 11052.5, the new county of residence shall not interview recipients moving to that county from another county to determine continued eligibility for CalFresh or CalWORKs until the next scheduled recertification pursuant to Section 18910.1 or redetermination pursuant to Section 11265. This section shall not preclude the new county of residence from interviewing CalWORKs recipients regarding welfare-to-work program participation, which is not a requirement for an intercounty transfer of CalWORKs eligibility.
(e) For beneficiaries required to receive services through a Medi-Cal managed care health plan, the following shall apply:
(1) If the beneficiary moves to another county and is still enrolled in a managed care health plan in the county from which he or she moved, the beneficiary shall have continued access to emergency services and any other coverage the managed care health plan authorizes out-of-network until the time that the intercounty transfer process pursuant to subdivision (a) is complete and the beneficiary is disenrolled from the managed care health plan.
(2) If the beneficiary moves to another county and is still enrolled in a managed care health plan in the county from which he or she moved and needs nonemergent care that same month in the new county, the Medi-Cal Managed Care Ombudsman shall, upon request by the beneficiary or either county, disenroll the beneficiary as an expedited disenrollment from his or her managed care health plan. County-initiated disenrollment using an online form shall be processed no later than three business days after the request is made. Beneficiary-initiated disenrollment by telephone shall be effective no later than two business days after the request is made when the request is made before 5 p.m. Any beneficiary-initiated disenrollment request by phone made after 5 p.m. shall be processed the following business day and be effective no later than two business days after the request is processed.
(3) A beneficiary who is disenrolled from the managed care health plan in the county from which he or she moved pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be entitled to the full scope of benefits for which he or she is entitled to in the new county through the fee-for-service delivery system until he or she is enrolled in a managed care health plan in the new county.
(4) If the beneficiary moves to a county that provides Medi-Cal services through a county organized health system, the beneficiary shall be enrolled in that county organized health system plan on the first day of the following month once the new county of residence is reflected in the Medi-Cal Eligibility Data System. If a beneficiary moves to a county without a county organized health system, the usual health plan choice process shall apply.
(f) Failure to report a move to a different county within the state in itself shall not constitute a basis for an overpayment.
(g) (1) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the State Department of Health Care Services and the State Department of Social Services, without taking any further regulatory action, shall implement, interpret, or make specific this section by means of all-county letters, plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions until the time regulations are adopted. The State Department of Health Care Services and the State Department of Social Services shall adopt regulations by July 1, 2021, in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(2) Beginning June 1, 2017, and notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the State Department of Health Care Services and the State Department of Social Services shall provide a status report on the adoption of the regulations to the Legislature on a semiannual basis, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, until regulations have been adopted.
(h) This section shall be implemented only if, and to the extent, that federal financial participation is available and any necessary federal approvals have been obtained.
(i) This section shall become operative on June 1, 2017.
(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 801, Sec. 1. (SB 1339) Effective January 1, 2017. Section operative June 1, 2017, by its own provisions.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018