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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T





SPONSOR: Crook DATE TYPED: 02/28/01 HB 857
SHORT TITLE: Social Security Disability Insurance SB
ANALYST: Taylor


APPROPRIATION



Appropriation Contained
Estimated Additional Impact
Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY01 FY02 FY01 FY02
NFI * Recurring General Fund
NFI * Recurring Federal Funds



* See Fiscal Impact Text



Duplicates/Relates to Appropriation in The General Appropriation Act.



SOURCES OF INFORMATION



Human Services Department (HSD)

Health Policy Commission (HPC)



SUMMARY



Synopsis of Bill



House Bill 857 request the Human Services Department to request a waiver pursuant to the federal Social Security Act to provide health insurance for individuals receiving social security disability insurance payments and who lack health insurance.



FISCAL IMPLICATIONS



The bill does not carry an appropriation. The Human Services Department estimates that the total, full-year cost of providing insurance for this population would be $7,410.0. The costs would be shared between the state general fund and federal funds as follows: $1,983.7 General Fund; $5,426.3 Federal Funds. In fact, the cost in the first year would be a fraction of the total as it takes several months for the department to write a waiver, get it approved and promulgate rules. Thus, in the first year, the total cost would likely be one-fourth of the full-year cost. The full-year cost is also inflated as the department reports that some portion of this population is already eligible for the Medicaid working disabled program.



The department's estimate assumes the following (based on Social Security Administration data):



ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS



The department writes that it would need a full-time person to research and draft the waiver. They do not attach a dollar figure to this cost, but it is likely to be about $75.0



OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES



The department's analysis notes that the bill does not specify whether they should be applying for a Medicaid or Medicare waiver. They assume that since the bill is directed to them, the request is for a Medicaid waiver.



BT/sb