Health care coverage: tax returns: information sharing authorization and outreach.
Existing federal law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), requires each state to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange to facilitate the purchase of qualified health benefit plans. Existing state law creates the California Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange), also known as Covered California, to facilitate the enrollment of qualified individuals and qualified small employers in qualified health plans as required under PPACA. Existing law requires every California resident, their spouse, and their dependents to be enrolled in and maintain minimum essential coverage for each month, except as specified, and requires the Exchange to administer a financial assistance program to help low-income and middle-income Californians access affordable health care coverage through the Exchange until January 1, 2023. Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to provide specified information to the Exchange regarding individuals who do not maintain minimum essential coverage, and requires the Exchange to annually conduct outreach and enrollment efforts with those individuals. Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board (board) to disclose to the Exchange individual income tax return information, as described, for purposes of conducting this outreach and enrollment effort to those individuals.

This bill would require the Exchange to annually conduct outreach and enrollment efforts to individuals who indicate on their individual income tax returns that they are interested in no-cost or low-cost health care coverage. The bill would require the board to include, on and after January 1, 2023, a checkbox for a taxpayer to indicate on their individual income tax return that they are interested in no-cost or low-cost health care coverage and authorize the board to share information from their tax return with the Exchange for purposes of conducting outreach and enrollment efforts to these taxpayers.