BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, Chair


          AB 852 (Quirk) - Skilled nursing facility construction,  
          alteration, or addition: review.
          
          Amended: July 10, 2013          Policy Vote: Health 9-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: August 12, 2013                           
          Consultant: Brendan McCarthy    
          
          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
          
          
          Bill Summary: AB 852 would require the Office of Statewide  
          Health Planning and Development to develop and meet reasonable  
          timelines for the review of certain health facility construction  
          plans. The bill authorizes the Office to raise the maximum fee  
          charged for review to 2% of a project's construction costs.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              One-time costs up to about $100,000 to update existing  
              regulations (Hospital Building Fund).

              Ongoing costs of about $380,000 per year for additional  
              staff to develop outreach materials, reduce plan review  
              timelines, and provide consultation for project proponents  
              (Hospital Building Fund).

              Ongoing additional fee revenues of about $150,000 per year  
              from the authorized increased in the plan review fee  
              (Hospital Building Fund).

          Background: Under current law, the Office of Statewide Health  
          Planning and Development develops building standards for  
          hospitals and reviews the design and construction of hospitals.  
          For the purposes of the Seismic Safety Act, hospital is defined  
          to include acute care hospitals, specialty hospitals, skilled  
          nursing facilities, and intermediate care facilities.

          The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development is  
          authorized to collect an application fee to cover the costs to  
          perform plan reviews. Application fees are limited to 2% of  
          total estimated construction costs for  general acute care  
          hospitals and specialty hospitals and 1.5% of estimated  








          AB 852 (Quirk)
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          construction costs for skilled nursing facilities and  
          intermediate care facilities.

          Proposed Law: AB 852 would require the Office of Statewide  
          Health Planning and Development to develop and meet reasonable  
          timelines for the review of construction plans for skilled  
          nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities. 

          Specific provisions of the bill would:
              Require the Office to meet reasonable timelines for the  
              review of documents, first review of new projects,  
              backchecks, and amended construction documents;
              Require the Office to designate a staff member to provide  
              consultation on projects relating to skilled nursing  
              facilities or intermediate care facilities;
              Authorize the Office to seek outside assistance from  
              qualified professional architectural or engineering firms;
              Authorize the Office to develop standardized requirements  
              for common design concepts;
              Require the Office to work with stakeholders to develop  
              educational programs intended to reduce document submission  
              errors and reduce review times;
              Authorize the Office to raise the maximum fee charged for  
              review to 2% of a project's construction costs.

          The provisions of the bill would sunset on January 1, 2019.

          Related Legislation: SB 563 (Galgiani) would require a person  
          requesting a copy of plans from the Office of Statewide Health  
          Planning and Development to pay for the costs of producing those  
          plans. That bill is in the Assembly.
          
          Staff Comments: According to the Office, the amount of  
          additional fee revenues that would be raised from raising the  
          maximum application fee would not be sufficient to fully cover  
          the increased costs that will occur from the bill. However, the  
          Hospital Building Fund has an existing fund balance that is  
          sufficient to cover the shortfall.

          Because the Hospital Building Fund is continuously appropriated  
          in statute and this bill raises the revenues that will go into  
          that fund, this bill makes an appropriation.










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