BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 1733 (Logue) - Health.
Amended: August 6, 2012 Policy Vote: Health 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 6, 2012
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1733 limits the restrictions that specialty
health plans contracting with the Department of Health Care
Services can place on telehealth services.
Fiscal Impact: The long-term fiscal impact of the bill is
unknown. It is possible that by increasing the ability of
providers and enrollees to use telehealth, enrollees will
receive more care from providers. On the other hand, by easing
the use of telehealth, the bill may reduce costs because
telehealth services may be provided a lower cost and the use of
telehealth may reduce the need for expensive medical
transportation for fragile enrollees. The Department of Health
Care Services indicates that savings are more likely than
increased costs.
Background: AB 415 (Logue, Chapter 547, Statutes of 2011) made
several changes to state regulation of telehealth. In
particular, the bill prohibited Medi-Cal managed care plans from
requiring an in-person visit between a provider and a patient
before telehealth services can be provided. This prohibition
applies to full-service Medi-Cal managed care plans, but
inadvertently excluded specialty managed care plans that
contract with the Department of Health Care Services, such as
the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), SCAN
Health Plan, and AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
Proposed Law: AB 1733 expands current law requirements allowing
for the use of telehealth in Medi-Cal managed care plans to all
health plans that contract with the Department of Health Care
Services. These current law requirements prohibit health plans
from requiring in-person contract between an enrollee and a
AB 1733 (Logue)
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provider before services can be provided to the enrollee through
telehealth systems.
The bill also updated the term "telemedicine" to "telehealth" in
a variety of code sections to reflect current practice.
Related Legislation:
SB 1009 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 34
of 2012) is the health and human services budget trailer
bill. It makes a variety of changes to statute to implement
the budget, including changes to code sections amended by
this bill.
SB 1575 (Committee on Business, Professions & Economic
Development) makes numerous minor and technical changes to
various provisions pertaining to the health-related
regulatory boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs,
including changes to code sections amended by this bill.
That bill is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 761 (R. Hernandez) makes changes to licensing
requirements on laboratories relating to optometrists,
including changes to code sections amended by this bill.
That bill is in the Assembly for concurrence in Senate
amendments.
AB 1800 (Ma) places limits on out-of-pocket expenditures by
health plan enrollees, and makes changes to code sections
amended by this bill. That bill will be heard in this
committee.
Staff Comments: The recently adopted amendments adopt the
changes to statute made by SB 1009, and proposed in SB 1575 and
AB 761, to avoid chaptering out provisions of those bills. In
addition, the recent amendments include double-jointing
amendments with AB 1800.