BILL NUMBER: AB 1710 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Yamada
FEBRUARY 15, 2012
An act to amend Sections 1416.36, 1416.38, and 1416.70 of the
Health and Safety Code, relating to health and care facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1710, as amended, Yamada. Nursing home administrators: fees and
fines.
Existing law, the Nursing Home Administrators' Act, provides for
the licensing of nursing home administrators by the State Department
of Public Health. Existing law prescribes specified licensing fees,
and requires that the fees be adjusted annually, as directed by the
Legislature in the annual Budget Act, by an amount not to exceed the
California Consumer Price Index, as specified. Existing law provides
for the issuance of citations and administrative fines for the
violation of any state or federal statute or regulation governing
licensed nursing home administrators. Existing law requires that
these fees and associated fines be deposited in the Nursing Home
Administrator's State License Examining Fund, a continuously
appropriated fund.
This bill would eliminate the Nursing Home Administrator's State
License Examining Fund and instead require that these fees and fines
be deposited into the State Department of Public Health Licensing and
Certification Program Fund. This bill would authorize the department
to adjust the fees, and would remove the adjustment limitation
relating to the California Consumer Price Index.
This bill would require the department to conduct a staffing
and systems analysis, and by March 31, 2013, to post a report
detailing this analysis on the department's Internet Web site, and to
submit it to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the
Legislature. The bill would require the department , by January
15 of each year, to prepare certain reports
a specified report relating to nursing home administrator fees,
fee adjustments, and nursing home administration generally. The bill
would require the department to submit these reports
this report to the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature and to post these reports
this report on its Internet Web site.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
that activities of the Nursing Home Administrator Program related to
licensure of nursing home administrators be supported by fee revenue
that is sufficient to fund these activities.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 1416.36
of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
1416.36. (a) The fees prescribed by this chapter are as follows:
(1) The application fee for reviewing an applicant's eligibility
to take the examination shall be twenty-five dollars ($25).
(2) The application fee for persons applying for reciprocity
consideration licensure under Section 1416.40 shall be fifty dollars
($50).
(3) The application fee for persons applying for the AIT Program
shall be one hundred dollars ($100).
(4) The examination fees shall be:
(A) Two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275) for an automated
national examination.
(B) Two hundred ten dollars ($210) for an automated state
examination or one hundred forty dollars ($140) for a written state
examination.
(5) The fee for an initial license shall be one hundred ninety
dollars ($190).
(6) The renewal fee for an active or inactive license shall be one
hundred ninety dollars ($190).
(7) The delinquency fee shall be fifty dollars ($50).
(8) The duplicate license fee shall be twenty-five dollars ($25).
(9) The fee for a provisional license shall be two hundred fifty
dollars ($250).
(10) The fee for endorsement of credentials to the licensing
authority of another state shall be twenty-five dollars ($25).
(11) The preceptor certification fee shall be fifty dollars ($50)
for each three-year period.
(12) The biennial fee for approval of a continuing education
provider shall be one hundred fifty dollars ($150).
(13) The biennial fee for approval of a continuing education
course shall be not more than fifteen dollars ($15).
(b) If the revenue projected to be collected is less than the
projected costs for the budget year, the department may propose that
fees be adjusted to an amount sufficient to cover the reasonable
regulatory costs to the department. Commencing February 1, 2013, and
every February 1 thereafter, the department shall publish a list of
proposed adjustments to fees pursuant to this section.
(c) (1) The department shall, within 30 days of the enactment of
the annual Budget Act each year, publish a list of actual numerical
fee charges as adjusted pursuant to this section. The final fee list,
with an explanation of any adjustment, shall be published by all of
the following means:
(A) Issuing a letter to all licensed nursing home administrators,
all skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities, and
all continuing education providers.
(B) Posting the list on the department's Internet Web site.
(C) Including the final fee list as part of the licensing
application package.
(2) (A) This adjustment of fees and the
publication of the fee list shall not be subject to the requirements
of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division
3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(B) (i) For purposes of ensuring efficient and effective
utilization of fees collected and proper allocation of departmental
resources for the administration of activities required by this
chapter, the department shall conduct a staffing and systems
analysis. By March 31, 2013, the department shall make a report
detailing this analysis available to the public by posting it on the
department's Internet Web site, and by submitting it to the
appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.
(ii) The report submitted pursuant to clause (i) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(iii) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the
requirement for submitting a report imposed pursuant to this
subparagraph is inoperative on January 1, 2017.
(d) (1) By January 15 of each year, the department shall prepare
the following reports and shall make those reports
a report containing the following information, and shall make
this report available to the public by submitting them
it to the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature, and by posting them
it on the department's Internet Web site:
(A) A report of all Estimates of
costs to implement activities required by this chapter and
estimated fee revenue . As part of this report, the
department shall recommend adjustments to fees based on projected
workload and costs. The cost estimates and estimated fees shall be
based on appropriation amounts in the Governor's proposed budget for
the next fiscal year.
(B) A staffing and systems analysis to ensure efficient and
effective utilization of fees collected and proper allocation of
departmental resources for the administration of activities required
by this chapter. This analysis shall include the
(B) Recommended adjustments to fees based on projected workload
and costs.
(C) An analysis containing the
following information for the current fiscal year and each of the
previous four fiscal years:
(i) The number of persons applying for a nursing home
administrator's license, the number of nursing home administrator
licenses approved or denied, and the number of nursing home
administrator licenses renewed.
(ii) The number of applicants taking the nursing home
administrator exam and the number of applicants who pass or fail the
exam.
(iii) The number of persons applying for, accepted into, and
completing the AIT Program.
(iv) The number, source, and disposition of complaints made
against persons in the AIT Program and licensed nursing home
administrators, including the length of time between receipt of the
complaint and completion of the investigation.
(v) The number and type of final administrative, remedial, or
disciplinary actions taken against licensed nursing home
administrators.
(vi) A listing of the names and nature of violations for
individual licensed nursing home administrators, including final
administrative, remedial, or disciplinary actions taken.
(vii) The number of appeals, informal conferences, or hearings
filed by nursing home administrators or held, the length of time
between the request being filed and the final determination of the
appeal, and the number of administrative, remedial, or disciplinary
actions taken.
(2) The reports required to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1)
shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section 1416.38 of
the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
1416.38. Within 10 days after the beginning of every month, all
fees collected by the program for the month preceding, under this
chapter, shall be paid into the State Department of Public Health
Licensing and Certification Program Fund established by Section
1266.9 , to defray the expenses of the program and in
carrying out and enforcing the provisions of this chapter.
SEC. 3. SEC. 4. Section 1416.70 of
the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
1416.70. (a) The program shall establish a system for the
issuance of citations to licensees, examinees, or participants of any
program activity offered or approved by the program. The citations
may contain an order of abatement, an order to pay an administrative
fine assessed by the program chief, or both, where the licensee,
examinee, or participant is in violation of any state or federal
statute or regulation governing licensed nursing home administrators.
(b) The system shall contain all of the following provisions:
(1) Citations shall be in writing and shall describe with
particularity the nature of the violation, including specific
reference to the provision of law determined to have been violated.
(2) Where appropriate, the citation shall contain an order of
abatement fixing reasonable time for abatement of the violation.
(3) (A) Administrative fines assessed by the program shall be
separate from and shall not preclude the levying of any other fines
or any civil or criminal penalty.
(B) In no event shall the administrative fine assessed by the
program be less than fifty dollars ($50) or exceed two thousand five
hundred dollars ($2,500) for each violation. The total assessment
shall not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each
investigation or for counts involving fraudulent billings submitted
to insurance companies, Medi-Cal, or Medicare programs.
(4) In assessing a fine, the program shall give due consideration
to the appropriateness of the amount of the fine with respect to
factors such as the gravity of the violation, the good faith effort
of the licensee, examinee, or participant, the unprofessional
conduct, including, but not limited to, incompetence and negligence
in the performance of the duties and responsibilities of an
administrator, the extent to which the cited person has mitigated or
attempted to mitigate any damage or injury caused by his or her
violation, whether the violation was related to patient care, the
history of any previous violations, and other matters as may be
appropriate.
(5) A citation or fine assessment issued pursuant to a citation
shall inform the licensee, examinee, or participant ,
that if he or she desires a hearing to contest the finding
of a violation, the hearing shall be requested by written notice to
the program within 30 days after the date of issuance of the citation
or assessment. A licensee may, in lieu of contesting a citation
pursuant to this section, transmit to the state department 75 percent
of the amount specified in the citation for each violation within 15
business days after the issuance of the citation.
(6) Failure of a licensee, examinee, or participant to pay a fine
within 30 days of the date of the assessment, unless the citation is
being appealed, may result in further disciplinary action being taken
by the program. Where a citation is not contested and a fine is not
paid, the full amount of the assessed fine, along with any accrued
penalty interest, shall be added to the fee for renewal of the
license. A license shall not be renewed without payment of the
renewal fee, fine, and accrued interest penalty. A citation may be
issued without the assessment of an administrative fine.
(c) Assessment of administrative fines may be limited to only
particular violations of the applicable licensing act.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, where a fine is paid to
satisfy an assessment based on the finding of a violation, payment of
the fine shall be represented as satisfactory resolution of the
matter for purposes of public disclosures. Administrative fines
collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the State
Department of Public Health Licensing and Certification Program Fund
established by Section 1266.9.