BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1428|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1428
Author: Conway (R)
Amended: 8/27/13 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 8-0, 8/21/13
AYES: Hernandez, Anderson, Beall, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Monning,
Nielsen, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 8/8/13 (Consent) - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : California Health Benefit Exchange: employees and
contractors
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the California Health Benefit
Exchange board's criminal background check requirement for
specified employees and volunteers and vendors, to be consistent
with a specific federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) document or further updates guidance or
regulations. Requires fingerprint images of specified
individuals whose duties include access to the specified
information contained in the information systems and devices of
the California Health Benefit Exchange (known as Covered
California).
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Establishes Covered California in state government, which is
governed by a board composed of five members. Requires, under
federal law, Covered California to make available qualified
health plans to qualified individuals and qualified employers.
2.Requires Covered California to inform individuals of
eligibility requirements for the Medi-Cal program, the Healthy
Families Program, or any applicable state or local public
program. Requires Covered California to enroll individuals in
any such program, if, through screening of the application,
Covered California determines that such an individual is
eligible.
3.Requires the executive board of Covered California, consistent
with federal guidance applicable to state-based exchanges, to
submit to the Department of Justice (DOJ) fingerprint images
and related information required by DOJ of all employees,
prospective employees, contractors, subcontractors,
volunteers, or vendors, whose duties include or would include
access to confidential information, personal identifying
information, personal health information, federal tax
information, financial information, or any other information
as required by federal law or guidance applicable to
state-based exchanges for the purposes of obtaining
information on:
A. The existence and content of a record of state or
federal convictions.
B. The existence and content of a record of state or
federal arrests for which DOJ establishes that the person
is free on bail or on his/her recognizance pending trial or
appeal.
This bill:
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1.Requires fingerprint images for purposes of a criminal
background check of specified individuals whose duties include
access to confidential information, personal identifying
information, personal health information, federal tax
information, or financial information contained in the
information systems and devices of Covered California.
2.Deletes an existing reference to "federal guidance applicable
to state-based exchanges" and replaces it with a specific
reference to the federal CMS, Catalog of Minimum Acceptable
Risk Standards for Exchanges (MARS-E), Exchange Reference
Architecture Supplement version 1.0, issued on August 12,
2012, or further updates, guidance, or regulations.
Background
SB 509 (DeSaulnier and Emmerson, Chapter 10) was signed into law
on June 17, 2013 as an urgency statute so Covered California
could begin hiring call center employees. As SB 509 moved
through the legislative process, its provisions did not mention
the MARS-E but instead referenced "federal guidance applicable
to state-based exchanges." Covered California's board
determined compliance with the MARS-E was important, but because
SB 509's proponents did not want to delay call center hiring, SB
509 moved forward with an agreement that clarifying language,
including specific reference to the MARS-E, would follow in this
bill.
Covered California indicates the requirement for a fingerprint
check against federal and state arrest and comes from the
federal MARS-E Personnel Screening Requirements. MARS-E
requires organizations to screen individuals prior to
authorizing access to information systems, and rescreen
individuals periodically, consistent with the
criticality/sensitivity rating of the position. To meet these
MARS-E requirements, Covered California must perform a criminal
history check for all persons prior to employment and, require
appropriate personnel to obtain and hold a moderate-risk
security clearance as defined in the federal Personnel
Security/Suitability handbook.
Prior Legislation
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SB 900 (Alquist, Chapter 659, Statutes of 2010) establishes
Covered California as an independent public entity within state
government, and requires Covered California to be governed by a
board composed of the Secretary of California Health and Human
Services Agency, or his/her designee, and four other members
appointed by the Governor and the Legislature who meet specified
criteria.
AB 1602 (John A. P�rez, Chapter 655, Statutes of 2010) specifies
the powers and duties of Covered California relative to
determining eligibility for enrollment in Covered California,
and requires Covered Coverage to arrange for coverage through
Qualified Health Plans.
AB 2343 (Torres, Chapter 256, Statutes of 2012) requires that,
when state or federal summary criminal history information is
furnished, the authorized agency, organization, or individual
furnish a copy of the information to the person to whom the
information relates if the information is a basis for an adverse
employment, licensing, or certification decision.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/28/13)
California Association of Health Plans
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, this bill is a
clean-up measure to SB 509 (DeSaulnier and Emmerson, Chapter 10,
Statutes of 2013) that would fix a flaw requiring private health
plan staff to undergo fingerprint and background checks. This
bill is needed to ensure that Covered California complies with
the federal background check guidance and MARS-E, without
imposing an unnecessary fingerprint burden on private health
plan staff. In addition, this bill ensures the fingerprint
images and related information submitted to the DOJ will only
include that of specified individuals whose duties include or
would include access to any personal information contained in
the information systems and devices of Covered California.
The California Association of Health Plans writes in support
that this bill contains important technical amendments to the
recently passed SB 509 including adding a specific reference to
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federal law and limiting the fingerprinting and background check
requirements of that bill to individuals who have access to the
Covered California computer system for eligibility and
enrollment.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 8/8/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly,
Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ch�vez, Vacancy, Vacancy
JL:ej 8/28/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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