SB 10: Health care coverage: immigration status.

Existing law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), requires each state to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange that facilitates the purchase of qualified health plans by qualified individuals and qualified small employers, and meets certain other requirements. PPACA specifies that an individual who is not a citizen or national of the United States or an alien lawfully present in the United States shall not be treated as a qualified individual and may not be covered under a qualified health plan offered through an exchange. Existing law creates the California Health Benefit Exchange (the Exchange) for the purpose of facilitating the enrollment of qualified individuals and qualified small employers in qualified health plans as required under PPACA.

This bill would require the Exchange to apply to the United States Department of Health and Human Services for a waiver to allow individuals who are not eligible to obtain health coverage through the Exchange because of their immigration status to obtain coverage from the Exchange. The bill would require the Exchange, after that waiver has been granted, to require an issuer that offers a qualified health plan in the individual market through the Exchange to concurrently offer a California qualified health benefit plan, as specified, to these individuals. The requirement to offer California qualified health plans would become operative on January 1, 2018, for coverage effective for California qualified health plans beginning January 1, 2019, as specified. The bill would require that individuals eligible to purchase California qualified health plans pay the cost of coverage without federal assistance and meet other specified requirements. The bill would require that information provided by an applicant for coverage under the bill be used only for the purposes of, and to the extent necessary for, ensuring the efficient operation of the Exchange, including verifying the eligibility of an individual to enroll through the Exchange, and would prohibit that information from being disclosed to any other person except as provided by the bill.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.