BILL NUMBER: AB 1523	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Atkins and Weber
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Maienschein)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Ian Calderon, Skinner, and Waldron)
   (Coauthors: Senators Block and Corbett)

                        JANUARY 17, 2014

   An act to add Section 1569.605 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to residential care facilities for the elderly.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1523, as introduced, Atkins. Residential care facilities for
the elderly: liability insurance.
   Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of
residential care facilities for the elderly by the State Department
of Social Services, including requiring, as a condition of licensure,
bonds issued by a surety company for a licensee that handles the
moneys of a person in the facility. Violation of these provisions is
a misdemeanor.
   This bill would require all residential care facilities for the
elderly to maintain either liability insurance in an amount of at
least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 in the annual
aggregate or a bond in the aggregate amount of $3,000,000. By
creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 1569.605 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
   1569.605.  All residential care facilities for the elderly, except
those facilities that are an integral part of a continuing care
retirement community, shall maintain either liability insurance
covering injury to residents and guests in the amount of at least one
million dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence and three million
dollars ($3,000,000) in the total annual aggregate, sustained on
account of the acts, omissions to act, or negligence of the licensee
or its employees, or a bond in the aggregate amount of three million
dollars ($3,000,000).
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.