This week, Governor Brown signed RCRC-supported Senate Bill 1341 by Senator Holly Mitchell, which requires the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) to be the system of record for Medi-Cal, and contain all Medi-Cal eligibility rules and case management functionality.  The measure outlines the agreement between counties, the Administration, and Covered California regarding the roles of each entity regarding eligibility activities. 

For years, counties have worked on behalf of the State to make eligibility and enrollment determinations for Medi-Cal, CalFresh and the CalWORKs programs – serving millions of Californians daily.  This integrated system allows county administrators and caseworkers to work more efficiently, saving both time, and money for the state, and providing customers with the best possible delivery of service.

In his signing message the Governor acknowledges that the shift to a new system, the California Health Eligibility Enrollment and Retention System (CalHEERS), and finding the right balance between the usage of SAWS and CalHEERS has been a bit uneven.  “Much functionality is still in development, and the timeframe of January 1, 2016, for executing more system changes may be overly ambitious…our success depends on collaboration and cooperation, harnessing the indispensable knowledge and experience of county workers with improved systems capabilities.”