BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 367|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 367
Author: Smyth (R)
Amended: 5/21/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMM. : 9-0, 6/11/12
AYES: Price, Emmerson, Corbett, Correa, Hernandez, Negrete
McLeod, Strickland, Vargas, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 1/26/12 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Board of Behavioral Sciences: reporting
SOURCE : California Association of Marriage and Family
Therapists
DIGEST : This bill adds the Board of Behavioral Sciences
(BBS) to the list of healing arts boards who are required
to report to the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)
information regarding a licensee who a board determines is
no longer eligible to practice his/her profession.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Authorizes the BBS to license and regulate marriage and
CONTINUED
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family therapists, licensed education psychologists,
clinical social workers and licensed professional
clinical counselors. (Business and Professions Code
(BPC) Sections 101.6, 4990.18, 4980.20)
2. Requires certain healing arts boards to report to the
DHCS specified licensure information relating to any
person whose license has been revoked, suspended,
surrendered or made inactive by the licensee, in order
to prevent state reimbursement for services provided
after the cancellation of a license. (BPC Section 683)
This bill:
1. Similar to other healing arts boards, requires the BBS
to report to the DHCS, within 10 working days, the name
and license number of a person whose license has been
revoked, suspended, surrendered, made inactive by the
licensee or placed in another category that prohibits
the licensee from practicing his/her profession.
2. Makes this requirement operative for the BBS commencing
on January 1, 2015.
Comments
Purpose . This bill is sponsored by the California
Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. According
to the author's office, in order to prevent providers in
bad standing from being reimbursed by DHCS administered
programs, such as Medi-Cal and Child Health and Disability
Prevention, various state oversight and licensing boards
make reports to DHCS. The BBS licenses Medi-Cal providers,
but is not required to make this report to DHCS. Because
of this inadvertent lapse in oversight, the state risks
spending scarce public health dollars on licensees in bad
standing who may compromise patient care.
Background
Enforcement activity by the BBS . The BBS is authorized to
license and regulate those professions that fall under its
purview. The BBS may take disciplinary action against a
licensee including denial, suspension, revocation and the
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assessment of penalties for misconduct. Currently, those
licensees who are deemed to have engaged in unprofessional
conduct and/or are subject to disciplinary action by the
BBS, have their personal information listed on the BBS Web
site via an online verification system that is available to
the public. The online verification system also includes
any pending disciplinary actions against the licensee in
question. The BBS exercises its right to provide copies of
public records in accordance with the Information Practices
Act or California Public Records Act.
Enforcement Activity by the DHCS . The DHCS works with
health care professionals, counties and health plans to
provide a health care safety net for low-income individuals
and persons with disabilities. DHCS finances and
administers a number of individual health care service
delivery programs, including Medi-Cal, California
Children's Service Program, Child Health and Disability
Prevention Program and the Genetically Handicapped Person
Program. In addition, DHCS provides funding for hospitals
and clinics that service underserved populations.
Existing law requires eight healing arts boards to report,
within 10 working days, to DHCS, the name and license
number of a person whose licensed has been revoked,
suspended, surrendered, made inactive by the licensee or
placed in another category that prohibits the licensee from
practicing his/her profession. These boards include:
Board of Chiropractic Examiners
Board of Occupational Therapy
Board of Optometry
Board of Pharmacy
Board of Psychology
Dental Board
Medical Board
Osteopathic Medical Board
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/26/12)
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
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(source)
American Association for Marriage Family Therapy,
California Division
Board of Behavioral Sciences
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 1/26/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove,
Hagman, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber,
Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner,
Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Davis, Gorell, Halderman, Harkey, Smyth
JJA:k 6/26/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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