BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
2645 (Chesbro)
Hearing Date: 08/02/2010 Amended: 06/21/2010
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: Health 7-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 2645, an urgency measure, would require
reimbursement rates for services at institutions for mental
disorders that are certified as skilled nursing facilities to be
the same as they were on July 1, 2009, from July 1, 2010 through
June 30, 2012.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
IMD-SNFs ($3,000 to $6,000), annually,
for two years Local
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STAFF COMMENTS:
Institutions for mental disorders (IMDs) are defined as
hospitals, nursing facilities, or other institutions of more
than 16 beds that are primarily engaged in providing diagnosis,
treatment, or care of persons with mental diseases. IMDs fall
into a variety of categories, including skilled nursing
facilities (SNFs), as licensed by the Department of Public
Health. According to the bill's sponsor, the County Mental
Health Directors Association (CMHDA), there are 24 IMD-SNF's
licensed in the state to which this bill would apply.
Current reimbursement rates for IMD-SNFs range from $136.22 to
$190.23 per day depending on region, the number of beds, and
other factors, and funding is the responsibility of county
governments (pursuant to realignment). Current law establishes
an annual 4.7 percent increase to these reimbursement rates.
This bill would effectively eliminate this statutory rate
increase for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 fiscal years. While there
is no comprehensive statewide cost data available to precisely
forecast this bill's cost savings for counties, information
provided from some impacted counties suggests that annual
savings would range from $3 million to $6 million.
Chapter 5 of the Statutes of 2009 (ABx4 5), froze the
reimbursement rates of a variety of licensed facilities,
including certain skilled nursing facilities, at 2008-09 levels.
This measure did not include IMD-SNFs.