BILL NUMBER: SB 485	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hernandez

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act relating to Medi-Cal.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 485, as introduced, Hernandez. Medi-Cal.
   Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and
under which qualified low-income persons receive health care
services. Existing law requires the department to develop a program
to provide information and assistance to enable Medi-Cal
beneficiaries to understand and successfully use the services of the
Medi-Cal managed care plans in which they enroll.
   This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature regarding
legislation that would require the department to provide specified
information regarding community clinics to Medi-Cal beneficiaries who
do not have a primary care physician, but who utilize the emergency
unit of a general acute care hospital for care of routine physical
ailments.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
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 to enact
legislation that would, as a pilot program, require the State
Department of Health Care Services to mail a letter to Medi-Cal
beneficiaries who do not have a primary care physician, but who
utilize the emergency unit of a general acute care hospital for care
of routine physical ailments, that explains the availability of, and
identifies, nearby clinics to visit for care of these ailments.