BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1059
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1059 (Huffman)
As Amended September 7, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |49-26|(June 2, 2011) |SENATE: |40-0 |(September 8, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY : Adds new data elements to the annual report to the
Legislature required of each county establishing a Maddy
Emergency Medical Services Fund (Maddy Fund) regarding the
moneys collected and disbursed.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead require each county establishing a Maddy Fund to
include in its annual report the following additional
information:
1)The reason no funds were deposited, if applicable;
2)The amount of penalty assessments that are used for pediatric
trauma centers;
3)The amount of money dispersed for actual administrative cost;
4)A description of the process used to obtain input from
physicians and surgeons and hospitals in order to review the
payment distribution methodologies;
5)An identification of the fee schedule used by the county for
reimbursable services from the county's Maddy Fund;
6)A description of the methodology used to disperse moneys to
hospitals providing disproportionate trauma services and
emergency medical services (EMS), the amount of moneys
available to be dispersed to hospitals, and the dollar amount
of the total allowable claims submitted and the percentage at
which those claims were reimbursed to hospitals if moneys are
disbursed to hospitals on a claim basis; and,
7)The name and contact information of the entity responsible for
AB 1059
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each of the following;
a) Collection of fines, forfeitures, and penalties;
b) Distribution of penalty assessments into each Maddy
Fund; and,
c) Distribution of moneys to physicians and surgeons.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes each county to establish a Maddy Fund for
reimbursement of EMS-related costs.
2)Authorizes, until January 1, 2014, counties to levy an
additional penalty in the amount of $2 for every $10 upon
fines, penalties, and forfeitures collected for criminal
offenses for deposit into the Maddy Fund.
3)Requires each county establishing a Maddy Fund to report
annually to the Legislature on the implementation and status
of the fund by April 15 of every year.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required the Director of
the Department of Managed Health Care to require a health care
service plan (health plan) to pay the provider the amount owed
plus interest when the Director makes a final determination that
a health plan has underpaid or failed to pay a provider in
violation of applicable provisions of the Knox-Keene Health Care
Service Plan Act of 1975, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor, if any, state reimbursable mandate costs
associated with increased reporting requirements related to
county-based Maddy EMS funds.
COMMENTS : According to the author, the annual reports on Maddy
Funds submitted to the Legislature by counties include money
dispersed to physicians and hospitals. However, the report does
not give details regarding how other EMS funds are appropriated.
The author claims that there have been complaints from some
physicians in some counties that the Maddy Fund reports do not
contain sufficient information to determine if the Maddy Fund is
being properly administered. The author states that this bill
will add additional transparency to the administration of the
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Maddy Fund by specifying disbursements that otherwise are
grouped under "other EMS." In a 2009 audit report by California
State Controller John Chiang, the Controller found that there
was an error by the San Bernardino County Courts of over $7.3
million collected in court revenues that were never remitted to
the State Treasurer. Over $2.3 million of that amount was
collected in penalties from traffic violator school cases that
should have been remitted to the State Treasurer for deposit
into the San Bernardino Maddy Fund to be used to reimburse
physicians and hospitals for emergency care provided to
uninsured patients.
AB 2248 (Ed Hernandez) of 2010, similar to this bill, was vetoed
by Governor Schwarzenegger who stated that the bill would have
created a reimbursable state mandate and he could not support
additional cost pressure on the state's General Fund.
The subject of this bill was previously included in SB 946
(Health Committee). SB 946, in that form passed the Assembly
Health Committee on July 5, 2011 on consent and the Assembly
floor on August 25, 2011. On September, 02, 2011, these
provisions were deleted and unrelated provisions were amended
into SB 946.
Analysis Prepared by : Marjorie Swartz / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0002865