BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1008|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1008
Author: Buchanan (D)
Amended: 8/26/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 5-2, 8/21/13
AYES: Wolk, Beall, DeSaulnier, Hernandez, Liu
NOES: Knight, Emmerson
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 6-2, 8/21/13
AYES: Hernandez, Beall, De León, DeSaulnier, Monning, Pavley
NOES: Anderson, Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not relevant
SUBJECT : Alameda County Medical Center: privatization of
services
SOURCE : Union of American Physicians and Dentists
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees,
AFL-CIO
DIGEST : This bill prohibits, before January 1, 2024, the
Alameda County Medical Center hospital authority (hospital
authority) also known as Alameda Health System (AHS) from
entering into any contract with any private person or entity to
replace services being provided by physicians and surgeons who
are employed by the hospital authority, and in a recognized
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collective bargaining unit as of March 31, 2013, without clear
and convincing evidence that the needed medical care can only be
delivered cost-effectively by a private contractor.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Establishes the hospital authority as a separate public
agency, established by the Board of Supervisors of Alameda
County to manage, administer, and control the Alameda County
Medical Center (doing business as the AHS).
2.Requires the hospital authority to be governed by a board that
is appointed by the Board of Supervisors of the County of
Alameda, and requires its mission to be the management,
administration, and other control of the group of public
hospitals, clinics, and programs that comprise AHS in a manner
that ensures appropriate, quality, and cost-effective medical
care.
3.Requires the hospital authority to have the power to sue or be
sued, to employ personnel, and to contract for services
required to meet its obligations.
4.Provides for a personnel transition plan for the time the
hospital authority was created, but prohibits anything in the
personnel transition plan from being construed as prohibiting
the hospital authority from determining the number of
employees, the number of full-time equivalent positions, the
job descriptions, and the nature and extent of classified
employment positions.
5.Requires the hospital authority to have sole authority to
negotiate memorandums of understanding with appropriate
employee organizations.
This bill:
1.Prohibits, before January 1, 2024, the hospital authority also
known as AHS from entering into any contract with any private
person or entity to replace services being provided by
physicians and surgeons who are employed by the hospital
authority, and in a recognized collective bargaining unit as
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of March 31, 2013, without clear and convincing evidence that
the needed medical care can only be delivered cost-effectively
by a private contractor.
2.Requires that the hospital authority, prior to entering into a
contract for any of those services, to negotiate with the
representative of the recognized collective bargaining unit of
its physician and surgeon employees over the decision to
privatize, and requires unresolved disputes to be submitted to
final binding arbitration.
3.Makes legislative findings and declarations that a special law
is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable,
within the meaning of the California Constitution, as
specified, because of the unique needs faced by Alameda County
with respect to the operation and administration of AHS.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/27/13)
Union of American Physicians and Dentists (co-source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO (co-
source)
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/27/13)
Alameda County Medical Center
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : This bill is sponsored by the Union of
American Physicians and Dentists - Local 206 (UAPD), which
states that it has learned that AHS is planning to contract-out
all 100 of its employed physicians which are represented by UAPD
by January 2, 2014, but because AHS denies having formed such
intent, nothing can be done about it in court or before the
Public Employee Relations Board. UAPD states that this bill
proposes to both clarify that the decision to privatize at AHS
is negotiable, and to provide for disputes arising in such
negotiations to be resolved by a neutral arbitrator.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME), is co-sponsoring this bill, and
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states that it is in response to AHS' repeated attempts to bust
the physicians' union by contracting out all 100 employed
physicians. According to AFSCME, AHS has attempted
privatization several times over the past two decades, but was
blocked by courts or arbitration rulings. AFSCME states that
this bill will ensure that the jobs of health workers are not
contracted out unless AHS can provide a clear and convincing
reason that the needed care can only be delivered
cost-effectively by a private contractor.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : According to AHS, it is planning on
acquiring San Leandro Hospital, and to also establish an
affiliate relationship with Alameda Hospital. AHS states that
San Leandro Hospital is planning on closing without AHS'
assumption of it, and Alameda Hospital will be at significant
risk of closure without the affiliation. AHS states that
central to the relationship with both of these facilities is for
AHS to be able to contract with the physicians at those
locations for services.
AHS states that this bill would allow a small segment of the
existing physician force to control all decisions on what work
could be performed at those facilities or if AHS could add
additional relationships with community physicians to better
serve its clientele. AHS states that this bill presumes that
all health decisions are about saving money, but notes that last
year only four percent of AHS patients had commercial insurance,
and that providing quality access to care cannot be limited to
only a cost of service evaluation.
AB:nl 8/27/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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