BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 367 Page 1 Date of Hearing: January 19, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 367 (Smyth) - As Amended: January 4, 2012 Policy Committee: Business and Professions Vote: 8-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill, effective July 1, 2013, adds the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to an existing list of agencies required to report licensee status to the Department of Health Care Services. FISCAL EFFECT 1)Minor, one-time costs, not likely to exceed several thousand dollars, to the Board of Behavioral Sciences to develop a reporting protocol. Ongoing reporting costs are likely to be negligible. 2)Minor costs to the Department of Health Care Services to receive an additional report and ensure unlicensed persons are not receiving payments from DHCS-administered programs. The cost of this additional workload is unlikely to exceed several thousand dollars annually. 3)Unknown, potentially significant cost avoidance to Medi-Cal and other DHCS-administered programs by ensuring providers receiving payments are duly licensed. COMMENTS 1)Rationale . This bill is sponsored by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to improve state oversight of professionals licensed by BBS. The author indicates that various state oversight and licensing boards make reports to DHCS in order to prevent providers in bad standing from being reimbursed by DHCS-administered programs, AB 367 Page 2 such as Medi-Cal. The BBS is currently not required to make this report to DHCS. This bill would add BBS to the list of agencies required to report to DHCS when a license has been revoked, suspended, surrendered, or made inactive. 2)Background . The BBS licenses marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, professional clinical counselors, and educational psychologists, some of whom provide services eligible for reimbursement through Medi-Cal and other DHCS-administered programs. Analysis Prepared by : Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081