LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
  
                              March 18, 2001
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Elliott Naishtat, Chair, House Committee on
               Human Services
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB2660  by Christian (Relating to a requirement that
               recipients of public assistance enroll dependent children
               in a public health care program.), As Introduced
  
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*  No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.        *
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The bill would require the Health and Human Service Commission to adopt
rules requiring a person receiving public assistance under a program
administered by the commission or a health and human services agency, as
a condition of receiving that assistance, to enroll each of the person's
dependent children in any public health care program for which the child
is eligible.  Further, the commission or appropriate health and human
services agency must identify any public health program in which a person
is required to enroll a child and assist the person with the enrollment
process.

"Public assistance" is not defined.  Under the Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance program, the Department of Human
Services (DHS) currently automatically enrolls children eligible for TANF
in the Medicaid program.  In this instance, the bill would require
continuation of current policy and therefore have no fiscal impact.

DHS indicates that federal law does not allow the state to impose
additional eligibility requirements for Food Stamps.  Therefore, no
impact is assumed related to this recipient population.

If public assistance is meant to include other state programs, or
programs jointly administered by the State and the federal government,
there would be potentially significant cost implications for Medicaid
and or the Children's Health Insurance Program, which are each partially
funded with General Revenue.
  
Local Government Impact
  
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
  
  
Source Agencies:   320   Texas Workforce Commission, 529   Health and
                   Human Services Commission, 324   Texas Department of
                   Human Services, 501   Texas Department of Health
LBB Staff:         JK, HD, PP