February 28 Deadline to Submit Petitions to the County Health Care Funding Resolution Committee

Please recall that under state law counties can dispute certain issues with the state of California as counties move forward with the implementation of the county health savings structure inAssembly Bill 85 and Senate Bill 98. February 28 is the deadline to submit petitions to the state if your county disagrees with the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) determination on the historical amounts and percentages, including the realignment percentage.

AB 85 creates the County Health Care Funding Resolution Committee (Section 17600.60 of the Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC)). Counties may petition the Committee for three specific reasons:

1. To hear and determine historical amounts and percentages related to realignment (WIC §17612.3 & 17613.3) – due February 28, 2014
2. To hear and determine petitions to change from the 60/40 to the County Savings Determination Formula. (WIC §17600.5) – no deadline in statute
3. To hear and determine petitions for an alternative cost calculation (WIC §17613.2, subdivision c) – no deadline in statute

DHCS has posted information on their website to assist counties interested in pursuing the petition, including the petition form and the petition process. Links to the petition form and thepetition process.

The County Health Care Funding Resolution Committee is comprised of three individuals:

1. CSAC representative (Rene Santiago, Deputy CEO and Director, Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System; Alternate: Kelly Brooks-Lindsey, CSAC Senior Legislative Representative),
2. State Department of Finance representative (Matt Paulin, Program Budget Manager, HHS), and
3. Department of Health Care Services representative (Marianne Cantwell, Chief Deputy Director, DHCS).

If you have additional questions, please contact Kelly Brooks-Lindsey (kbrooks@counties.org).

Covered California Suspends Online Enrollment for Small Business Health Program

Yesterday Covered California announced that it is suspending the online portal for the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) in response to requests for modifications. Applications will continue via paper applications. The portal is being taken offline so improvements can be made. Covered California is projecting the portal will return online in the fall of 2014.

Covered California created SHOP to facilitate the purchase of affordable health insurance for small-business owners. SHOP is a second marketplace — separate from the one for individuals — and is designed to give employers and their employees more options for health coverage. Using this marketplace, small-business owners can shop for health insurance in ways that offer convenience and choice, which is comparable to how large companies shop for employee health insurance today.

As of Jan. 31, 2014, 571 groups were enrolled in Covered California’s SHOP, representing 4,490 individuals. SHOP is currently processing an additional 200 group applications, representing 1,200 individuals. Small businesses can enroll in SHOP plans year round.