BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 946 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 17, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair SB 946 (Committee on Health) - As Amended: May 10, 2011 Policy Committee: HealthVote:18-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes SUMMARY This bill makes various technical and non-controversial changes to statutes governing telemedicine, emergency medical services (EMS) funds, food safety, HIV reporting, health information privacy, health insurance, and mental health services payments. Specifically, this bill: 1)Deletes references to "telemedicine" in various statutes and replaces them with the term "telehealth." 2)Deletes obsolete reporting requirements imposed on the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) related to the application of telemedicine, including store-and-forward telemedicine. 3)Requires each county that has established a Maddy EMS Fund to include a description of each disbursement for other EMS purposes in its annual report to the Legislature, if funds were disbursed for these purposes, and other additional information, as specified, regarding the monies collected and disbursed. 4)Updates the California Retail Food Code (CRFC) to define the term "hot dog;" require food service employees to wash their hands prior to donning gloves for working with food or replacing gloves that need to be changed or replaced; prohibit single-use gloves from being washed; and, establish sanitation requirements for food service employees with lesions or open wounds. 5)Authorizes the Department of Public Health (DPH) to develop a form to be used to report cases of HIV infection to the local SB 946 Page 2 health department and permits the form to be implemented without promulgating new regulations. 6)Renames the Office of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Implementation as the California Office of Health Information Integrity (CalOHII). 7)Deletes a redundant code section requiring CalOHII to be under the supervision of a director appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Agency and eliminates obsolete reporting requirements. 8)Modifies the frequency with which the existing advisory committee on statewide HIPAA implementation meets from at least twice a year to an "as required" basis. 9)Revises specified sections of the Insurance Code relating to coverage for a child to replace references to "solicitor" with "agent or broker" or "agent or broker of the carrier." 10)Conforms state law to existing federal regulations and current practice of the Department of Mental Health (DMH) with regard to negotiated rates and incentive payments for the provision of Medi-Cal reimbursable community mental health services. 11)Makes other minor technical changes to correct drafting and grammatical errors. FISCAL EFFECT Minor, if any, state reimbursable mandate costs associated with increased reporting requirements related to county-based Maddy EMS funds. Other provisions of this bill will have negligible state fiscal impact. COMMENTS Rationale . This bill is authored by the Senate Committee on Health as omnibus legislation containing technical and/or non-controversial changes to laws affecting various health agencies, programs, and services. Analysis Prepared by : Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 SB 946 Page 3