14011.65. (Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 42, Sec. 110.)

(b) (1) Any child who meets all of the following requirements, shall be eligible for temporary health benefits under this section:

(A) The child, or their parent or guardian, submits an application for the Medi-Cal program directly to the county.

(B) The child’s income, as determined on the basis of the application described in subparagraph (A), is within the income limits established by the Healthy Families Program.

(C) The child is under 19 years of age at the time of the application.

(D) The county determines, on the basis of the application described in subparagraph (A), that the child is eligible for full scope Medi-Cal with a spend down of excess income.

(E) The child is not receiving Medi-Cal benefits at the time that the application is submitted.

(F) The child, or their parent or guardian, gives, or has given consent for the application to be shared with the Healthy Families Program for purposes of determining the child’s Healthy Families Program eligibility.

(2) The period of accelerated eligibility provided for under this section begins on the first day of the month that the county finds that the child meets all of the criteria described in paragraph (1) and concludes on the last day of the month that the child either is fully enrolled in, or has been determined ineligible for, the Healthy Families Program.

(3) For any child who meets the requirements for temporary health benefits under this section, the county shall forward to the Healthy Families Program sufficient information from the child’s application to determine eligibility for the Healthy Families Program. To the extent possible, submission of that information to the Healthy Families Program shall be accomplished using an electronic process developed for use in the Medi-Cal-to-Healthy Families Bridge Benefits Program. The department shall give the Healthy Families Program a daily electronic file of all children provided temporary health benefits pursuant to this section.

(4) The temporary health benefits provided under this section shall be identical to the benefits provided to children who receive full-scope Medi-Cal benefits without a spend down of excess income and shall only be made available through a Medi-Cal provider.

(c) The department, in consultation with the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board and representatives of the local agencies that administer the Medi-Cal program, consumer advocates, and other stakeholders, shall develop and distribute the policies and procedures, including any all-county letters, necessary to implement this section.

(d) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the department shall implement this section by means of all-county letters or similar instructions, without taking any further regulatory action. Thereafter, the department may adopt regulations, as necessary, to implement 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.

(e) The department shall seek approval of any amendments to the state plan necessary to implement this section, in accordance with Title XIX (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1396 et seq.) of the Social Security Act. Notwithstanding any other law, only when all necessary federal approvals have been obtained shall this section be implemented.

(f) Under no circumstances shall this section be implemented unless the state has sought and obtained approval of any amendments to its state plan, as described in Section 12693.50 of the Insurance Code, necessary to implement this section and obtain funding under Title XXI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1397aa et seq.) for the provision of benefits provided under this section. Notwithstanding any other law, and only when all necessary federal approvals have been obtained by the state, this section shall be implemented only to the extent federal financial participation under Title XXI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1397aa et seq.) is available to fund benefits provided under this section.

(g) The department shall commence implementation of this section on the first day of the third month following the month in which federal approval of the state plan amendment or amendments described in subdivision (f), and subdivision (b) of Section 12693.50 of the Insurance Code is received, or on August 1, 2006, whichever is later.

(h) This section shall cease to be implemented on the date that the director executes a declaration, pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 14011.65, stating that implementation of Section 14011.65a has commenced. Implementation of this section shall resume on the date that Section 14011.65a becomes inoperative, pursuant to subdivision (h) of that section.