AB 1056

This bill creates an ineligibility period for the Medical Assistance program and

FoodShare for certain employment terminations. The FoodShare program, also

known as the food stamp program and the federal Supplemental Nutrition

Assistance Program, provides financial assistance to individuals with limited

financial resources for the purchase of food. The Medical Assistance program, known

also as the federal Medicaid program, provides health care services to individuals

who have limited financial resources.

Under the bill, an able-bodied adult who is not eligible for the Medical

Assistance program and who voluntarily terminates legal, paid employment

continues to be ineligible for the Medical Assistance program for six months from the

date the able-bodied adult receives the last paycheck from that employment. The

bill establishes in the FoodShare program the same six-month ineligibility period

resulting from voluntary employment termination by an able-bodied adult. The

ineligibility period under the bill does not apply if the Department of Health Services

determines that the individual terminated employment for one of same reasons that

a voluntary termination does not create an ineligibility period for unemployment

benefits. Those reasons include voluntary termination for the following: termination

in lieu of termination of another employee; request, suggestion, or directive by the

employer to violate the law; sexual harassment; illness or disability of the employee;

illness or disability of a family member that requires the care of a family member;

change of work hours leading to a lack of child care; termination of employment that

the employee could have refused to accept under current unemployment benefits

law; termination was concurrent with honorable discharge from the armed forces;

concerns about personal safety or harassment accompanied by certain proof of the

concerns; or termination was the result of the relocation of a spouse in the U.S. armed

forces on active duty. The bill requires the Department of Health Services, which

administers both the Medical Assistance program and FoodShare program, to seek

approval from the federal government to implement these ineligibility periods, if

that federal approval is required.