BILL NUMBER: ABX1 3	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Conway

                        APRIL 15, 2013

   An act to add Section 100523 to the Government Code, relating to
health care coverage, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 3, as introduced, Conway. California Health Benefit Exchange:
employees and contractors.
   Under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
(PPACA), each state is required, by January 1, 2014, to establish an
American Health Benefit Exchange that makes available qualified
health plans to qualified individuals and small employers. Existing
state law establishes the California Health Benefit Exchange
(Exchange) within state government, specifies the powers and duties
of the board governing the Exchange, and requires the board to
facilitate the purchase of qualified health plans through the
Exchange by qualified individuals and small employers by January 1,
2014. Existing law requires the board to employ necessary staff and
authorizes the board to enter into contracts.
   This bill would require all employees, prospective employees,
contractors, subcontractors, and vendors, who facilitate enrollment
of persons in a qualified health plan in the Exchange and who, in the
course and scope of their employment, have access to the financial
or medical information of enrollees or potential enrollees, to be
fingerprinted, at appropriate locations determined by the board, for
the purpose of obtaining criminal history information. The bill would
prohibit a person who has been convicted of felony crimes of
dishonesty or breach of trust in a state or federal jurisdiction or
other specified crimes from being hired by or contracting with the
Exchange for the purpose of facilitating enrollment of persons in a
qualified health plan in the Exchange or for any position where, in
the course and scope of his or her employment, he or she will have
access to the financial or medical information of enrollees or
potential enrollees of the Exchange. The bill would also require an
applicant to notify the Exchange of any prescribed misdemeanor or
felony convictions, filing of charges, or administrative actions.
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The mission of the California Health Benefit Exchange
(Exchange) is to increase the number of insured Californians.
   (b) According to the Exchange, the Assisters Program is designed
to target populations in California's vast, geographically diverse
mix of rural and urban communities, estimated at 4,000,000 eligible
individuals: one hundred thousand in northern California and Sierra
counties, 130,000 in the Sacramento area, 390,000 in the greater Bay
Area, 250,000 in the San Joaquin Valley, 140,000 in the central
coast, 780,000 in Los Angeles, and another 750,000 in southern
California.
   (c) According to the Exchange, the Assisters Program is designed
to target populations within the estimated 4,000,000 eligible
individuals that are ethnically diverse: 1,880,000 estimated to be
Hispanic, 1,340,000 Caucasian, 470,000 Asian, and 210,000 African
American.
   (d) According to the Exchange, the Assisters Program will conduct
outreach, education, marketing, and enrollment for the Exchange to
reach the estimated 4,000,000 eligible individuals.
   (e) The Assisters Program is expected to promote maximum
enrollment of individuals into coverage and ensure that assisters are
knowledgeable of both subsidized and nonsubsidized health care
coverage and qualified health plans and are equipped with the
information and expertise needed to successfully enroll individuals
into coverage.
   (f) The Exchange will use individual assisters, in-person
assisters, and navigators in the Assisters Program to accomplish
these goals.
   (g) Individual assisters, in-person assisters, and navigators
will, necessarily, have access to eligible individuals' personal
identifying information, including social security numbers, personal
health information, and state and federal tax information, to enroll
over 4,000,000 Californians in health insurance programs.
   (h) Agents and brokers, health insurers, and other entities that
currently handle applications for health care coverage and the
applicant's sensitive, personal information are required to be
licensed by the Department of Insurance.
   (i) The Department of Insurance, by law, is authorized to require
applicants for licensure to pass background checks, including
fingerprinting, as a condition of licensure.
   (j) It is in the public's interest that eligible individuals
purchasing health care coverage through the services of an individual
assister, in-person assister, or navigator have the same reasonable
expectation of privacy protections afforded to Californians
purchasing health care coverage through a private agent or broker.
   (k) To advance the public's interest in protecting and
safeguarding eligible individuals from the unauthorized and illegal
access to, or disclosure of, their personal identifying information,
personal health information, or federal tax information when the
Exchange begins enrolling customers into health care plans for
coverage beginning as early as January 1, 2014.
  SEC. 2.  Section 100523 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   100523.  (a) The board shall require all employees, prospective
employees, contractors, subcontractors, and vendors, who facilitate
enrollment of persons in a qualified health plan in the Exchange and
who, in the course and scope of their employment, have access to the
financial or medical information of enrollees or potential enrollees
of the Exchange, to be fingerprinted, at appropriate locations
determined by the board, for the purpose of obtaining criminal
history information.
   (b) A person who has been convicted of any felony crimes of
dishonesty or breach of trust in a state or federal jurisdiction, who
has been convicted of any violation of Section 1033 of Title 18 of
the United States Code, or who has been convicted of any crime
included in Section 2183.2 of Title 10 of the California Code of
Regulations shall not be hired by or contract with the Exchange for
the purpose of facilitating enrollment of persons in a qualified
health plan in the Exchange or for any position where, in the course
and scope of his or her employment, he or she will have access to the
financial or medical information of enrollees or potential enrollees
of the Exchange.
   (c) A person who has applied for employment with the Exchange for
any position where, in the course and scope of his or her employment,
he or she will have access to the financial or medical information
of enrollees or potential enrollees of the Exchange shall immediately
notify the Exchange upon any misdemeanor or felony conviction, any
filing of felony charges in state or federal court, any
administrative action regarding a professional or occupational
license, or any conviction listed in subdivision (b), if the action
occurs after an application has been submitted.
  SEC. 3.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to protect and safeguard customers from the unauthorized
and illegal access to, or disclosure of, their personal identifying
information, personal health information, or federal tax information
when the California Health Benefit Exchange begins enrolling
customers into health care plans for coverage beginning as early as
January 1, 2014, it is necessary that this act take effect
immediately.