Amended  IN  Assembly  March 10, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2823

Introduced by Assembly Member Levine

February 18, 2022

An act to amend Section 459.5 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes. An act to add Section 14005.125 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to Medi-Cal.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2823, as amended, Levine. Crimes: shoplifting Medi-Cal: beneficiary maintenance needs: home upkeep allowances.
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 provisions. Qualified individuals under the Medi-Cal program include medically needy persons and medically needy family persons who meet the required eligibility criteria, including applicable income requirements.
Existing law requires the department to establish income levels for maintenance need at the lowest levels that reasonably permit a medically needy person to meet their basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter, and for which federal financial participation will still be provided under applicable federal law. In calculating the income of a medically needy person in a medical institution or nursing facility, or a person receiving institutional or noninstitutional services from a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly organization, the required monthly maintenance amount includes an amount providing for the upkeep and maintenance of the person’s home. This amount is also referred to as the home upkeep allowance.
Existing law requires that the maintenance of need amount provide for personal and incidental needs in an amount not less than $35 for a person in a medical institution or nursing facility, or for a person receiving institutional or noninstitutional services from a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly organization.
Existing law authorizes the Director of Health Care Services to adopt, amend, or repeal reasonable rules and regulations to carry out the purposes and intent of the Medi-Cal program, that are not inconsistent with any state statute. The department has adopted regulatory requirements relating to the determination of the home upkeep allowance described above.
This bill would establish eligibility and other requirements for providing the home upkeep allowance to Medi-Cal patients residing in a long-term care facility. The bill would prescribe general and specific requirements for both facility residents who intend to leave the facility and return to an existing home and who would receive the home upkeep allowance.
The bill would require the department to implement, subject to federal approval and federal financial participation, these provisions by means of various instructions, including provider bulletins, to adopt regulations within 2 years of implementation of these provisions, and to provide a status report to the Legislature on a semiannual basis until regulations have been adopted. The bill would require the department to inform appropriate long-term care facility residents and notify specified personnel and health care facilities of the existence and availability of the home upkeep allowance.
Because counties are required to make Medi-Cal eligibility determinations, and this bill would impose new eligibility requirements for purposes of these allowances, 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 the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted as an initiative statute by Proposition 47, as approved by the electors at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, makes the theft of money, labor, or property petty theft punishable as a misdemeanor, whenever the value of the property taken does not exceed $950. Under existing law, if the value of the property taken exceeds $950, the theft is grand theft, punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony.

Proposition 47 requires shoplifting, defined as entering a commercial establishment with the intent to commit larceny if the value of the property taken does not exceed $950, to be punished as a misdemeanor.

This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to that provision.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NOYES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 14005.125 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, immediately following Section 14005.12, to read:

14005.125.
 (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to prevent homelessness for long-term care Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are temporarily residing in a skilled nursing facility and are no longer able to pay their housing expenses due to diverting their income toward share of cost.
(b) (1) For purposes of this section, “home upkeep allowance” means the “allowance for home maintenance,” as described in Section 435.725(d) of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations and the amount for the “upkeep and maintenance of the home,” described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 14005.12.
(2) The home upkeep allowance shall be available to long-term care facility residents who are Medi-Cal recipients and meet the requirements of this section.
(3) A long-term care facility resident who intends to leave the facility and return to their existing home shall be provided with a home upkeep allowance as follows:
(A) The allowance shall be set aside from the income that otherwise would be applied toward the resident’s Medi-Cal share of cost for residing in the facility.
(B) The allowance shall be based on the actual minimum cost of maintaining the resident’s home, including, but not limited to, mortgage or rent, property taxes, utilities, and required insurance.
(C) The allowance shall be deducted for not more than six months and shall be available only if a physician has certified that the resident is likely to return to their home within six months.
(4) If a long-term care facility resident does not have a home, but intends to leave the facility and establish a home in the community, the facility shall refer them to available home-based and community-based services programs.
(5) On or before July 1, 2023, the department shall seek federal approval to implement the requirements of this subdivision. This subdivision shall be implemented only if, and to the extent that, federal financial participation is available and any necessary federal approvals have been obtained.
(c) (1) An allowance shall not be approved if the resident has received a home upkeep allowance for a full six-month period during a continuous period of institutionalization.
(2) If the resident receives a home upkeep allowance for fewer than six months during the same continuous period of institutionalization, a home upkeep allowance may be approved for any remaining portion of the maximum six-month period.
(d) In implementing this section, the department shall undertake all of the following information and outreach activities:
(1) Include information on the existence and availability of the home upkeep allowance in the “Notice Regarding Standards for Medi-Cal Eligibility” provided for in Section 14006.4.
(2) Add questions to the “Additional Income and Property Information Needed for Medi-Cal” (MC 604 IPS) form to provide applicants an opportunity to apply for the home upkeep allowance.
(3) Notify all Medi-Cal branches, eligibility workers, long-term care facilities, hospital discharge planners, and organizations receiving state funds to nursing home residents of the existence and availability of the home upkeep allowance.
(4) Inform residents in all Medi-Cal funded long-term care facilities of the existence and availability of the home upkeep allowance.
(e) (1) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the department, 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.
(2) The department shall adopt regulations within two years of implementation of this section, 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.
(3) Beginning six months after the effective date of this section, notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the department shall provide a status report to the Legislature on a semiannual basis, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, until regulations have been adopted.

SEC. 2.

  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1.Section 459.5 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
459.5.

(a)Notwithstanding Section 459, shoplifting is defined as entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950). Any other entry into a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny is burglary. Shoplifting shall be punished as a misdemeanor, except that a person with one or more prior convictions for an offense specified in clause (iv) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 667 or for an offense requiring registration pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 290 may be punished pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

(b)A act of shoplifting as defined in subdivision (a) shall be charged as shoplifting. No person who is charged with shoplifting may also be charged with burglary or theft of the same property.