BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1710
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1710 (Yamada)
As Amended April 26, 2012
Majority vote
HEALTH 13-6 APPROPRIATIONS 12-4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Monning, Ammiano, Atkins, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Bonilla, Eng, Gordon, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Hayashi, | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| |Roger Hernández, Bonnie | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| |Lowenthal, Mitchell, Pan, | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| |V. Manuel Pérez, Williams | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Logue, Garrick, Mansoor, |Nays:|Donnelly, Nielsen, Norby, |
| |Nestande, Silva, Smyth | |Wagner |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Department of Public Health (DPH) to
adjust the licensing fees for the Nursing Home Administrator
Program (NHAP) and removes the licensing fee adjustment
limitation in existing law relating to the California Consumer
Price Index. Requires DPH to prepare certain reports relating
to nursing home administrator (NHA) licensing fees and to submit
these reports to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of
the Legislature and to post the reports on its Internet Web
site. Specifically, this bill :
1)Declares that it is the intent of the Legislature that
activities of the NHAP related to licensure of NHAs is
supported by fee revenue that is sufficient to fund these
activities.
2)Authorizes DPH, if the revenue projected to be collected from
NHA licensing fees is less than the projected costs for the
budget year, to propose NHA licensing fees to be adjusted to
an amount sufficient to cover the reasonable regulatory costs
to DPH. Requires DPH, commencing February 1, 2013, and every
February 1 thereafter, to publish a list of proposed
adjustments to NHA licensing fees.
3)Requires DPH, within 30 days of the enactment of the annual
AB 1710
Page 2
Budget Act each year, to publish a list of actual numerical
fee charges as adjusted. Requires the final NHA licensing fee
list, with an explanation of any adjustment, to be published
by all of the following means:
a) Issuing a letter to all licensed NHAs, all skilled
nursing facilities (SNFs) and intermediate care facilities,
and all continuing education providers;
b) Posting the list of DPH's Internet Web site; and,
c) Including the final fee list as part of the licensing
application package.
4)Prohibits the adjustment of NHA licensing fees and the
publication of the NHA licensing fee list from being subject
to regulation requirements in existing law.
5)Requires DPH, for purposes of ensuring efficient and effective
utilization of fees collected and proper allocation of DPH
resources for the administration of activities required by
this bill, to conduct a staffing and systems analysis.
6)Requires DPH, by March 31, 2013, to make a report detailing
this analysis available to the public by posting it on DPH's
Internet Web site, and by submitting it to the appropriate
policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature. Requires the
report to be submitted to comply with existing law. Makes the
reporting requirement inoperative January 1, 2017.
7)Requires DPH, by January 15 of each year, to prepare the
following reports and make those reports available to the
public by submitting it to the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature, and by posting it on DPH's
Internet Web site:
a) Estimates of costs to implement NHAP licensing fee
activities and estimated fee revenues;
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:
AB 1710
Page 3
i) The number of persons applying for a NHA license,
the number of NHA licenses approved or denied, and the
number of NHA licenses renewed;
ii) The number of applicants taking the NHA exam and the
number of applicants who pass or fail the exam;
iii) The number of persons applying for, accepted into,
and completing the Administrator in Training (AIT)
Program;
iv) The number, source, and disposition of complaints
made against persons in the AIT Program and licensed
NHAs, 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
NHAs;
vi) A listing of the names and nature of violations for
individual licensed NHAs, including final administrative,
remedial, or disciplinary actions taken; and,
vii) The number of appeals, informal conferences, or
hearings filed by NHAs 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.
8)Requires, within 10 days after the beginning of every month,
all NHAP licensing fees collected by the program for the month
preceding to be paid in to the DPH Licensing and Certification
Program Fund.
9)Requires administrative fines collected by the NHAP to be
deposited in the DPH Licensing and Certification Program Fund.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
AB 1710
Page 4
1)Potential increased fee revenue of up to $400,000 annually
could be assessed if DPH supported all NHAP activities by
NHAP-related fee revenue as envisioned in this bill. For
example, if all fees related to the NHAP program were
increased proportionately, fees for nursing home
administrators could approximately double from the current
biennial fee of $190 to $380.
2)Costs associated with new reporting requirements are expected
to be minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill modernizes the way
NHAP fees are calculated in order to realistically reflect the
workload and program needs. The author maintains that the NHAP
funding was inadvertently omitted from the fee reform initiative
for "right-sizing" or adjusting licensing fees based on the
workload and costs for the Department of Health Services
Licensing and Certification Program (now DPH Licensing and
Certification Program) as a part of the fiscal year 2006-07
Budget Act. The author maintains this lack of integrated
funding, public accountability and resources, creates problems
for the NHAP to be able to fully implement its statutory
responsibilities to protect the health and safety of nursing
home residents by ensuring that NHAs meet professional licensing
standards. According to the author, as a result of lack of
resources, the program has not been able to do the following:
1) Revise the state exam for NHAs; 2) Investigate complaints in
a timely manner; 3) Take disciplinary actions for violations of
professional standards; or, 4) Conduct routine analysis to
determine any correlation between SNF violations and NHA
responsibilities.
Analysis Prepared by : Tanya Robinson-Taylor / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0003392