BILL NUMBER: SB 266 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 6, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 24, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 3, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 18, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lieu
FEBRUARY 13, 2013
An act to add Section 687 to the Business and Professions
Code, and to add Section 1250.04 to the Health and Safety Code
amend Section 1741.1 of the Labor Code ,
relating to health care coverage public works
.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 266, as amended, Lieu. Health care coverage:
out-of-network coverage. Prevailing wages.
Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner to issue a civil wage
and penalty assessment to a contractor or subcontractor, or both,
if, after an investigation, the commissioner determines there has
been a violation of the law regulating public works projects,
including the payment of prevailing wages. Existing law tolls the
period for service of assessments for the period of time required by
the Director of Industrial Relations to determine whether a project
is a public work, as specified. Existing law, with respect to the
determination of whether a project is a public work, requires a
person filing a notice of completion of the project to also provide
notice to the Labor Commissioner, as specified, and requires the
awarding body or political subdivision accepting a public work to
provide to the Labor Commissioner notice of that acceptance, as
specified.
This bill instead would require the body awarding the contract for
public work to furnish, within 10 days after receipt of a written
request from the Labor Commissioner, a copy of the valid notice of
completion for the public work or a document evidencing the awarding
body's acceptance of the public work on a particular date, whichever
occurs later, in accordance with specified provisions. The bill would
require the awarding body to notify the appropriate office of the
Labor Commissioner if, at the time of receipt of the Labor
Commissioner's written request, there has been no valid notice of
completion filed by the awarding body in the office of the county
recorder, and no document evidencing the awarding body's acceptance
of the public work on a particular date. If the awarding body fails
to timely furnish the Labor Commissioner with the applicable
document, the bill would require that the period for service of
assessments be tolled until the Labor Commissioner's receipt of the
applicable document. The bill would also include legislative findings
and declarations.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health
care practitioners by various healing arts boards within the
Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law also provides for the
licensure and regulation of health facilities by the State Department
of Public Health. A violation of these provisions is a crime.
This bill would prohibit a medical group or clinic, as defined,
from stating, verbally or in writing, that it is within a plan
network or a provider network unless all of the individual providers
providing services with the medical group or clinic are within the
plan network or provider network. The bill would require a provider
group or clinic to recommend that the patient contact his or her
health care service plan or health insurer for information about
providers who are within the patient's plan network or medical
network if any of the providers in that medical group or clinic are
not within the plan network or provider network. Those provisions
would not apply to emergency services and care.
This bill would also require a hospital, before providing
nonemergency services and care, to provide a specified written notice
to the patient stating that individual providers providing services
within the hospital may not be in the patient's plan network or
provider network, except as specified. By expanding the scope of a
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 no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares at all of
the following:
(1) The process for the Director of Industrial Relations to
determine the existence of a public work and to decide administrative
appeals from those determinations has created unacceptable delays
and prejudice to the enforcement of the public works law, often
resulting in the expiration of the statute of limitation for the
identification and collection of wage and penalty assessments. As a
result, wage theft has occurred because workers are not paid
prevailing wage rates and the time for assessment has expired.
(2) There has been an incentive to some developers, contractors,
and public bodies to engage in expensive and time-consuming
litigation in efforts to extend the time for determining the
existence of a public work. This litigation is often a needless
expense to the state.
(3) Public bodies, developers, contractors, and others are
entitled to a determination of whether a project is a public work as
early as possible so that the costs of the project and the duties of
the parties under the law may be known as early as possible.
(4) Therefore, this act is necessary to ensure the actual receipt
of proper wages, to reduce administrative and litigation costs to the
state and others, and to provide early guidance to all interested
parties.
SEC. 2. Section 1741.1 of the Labor
Code is amended to read:
1741.1. (a) The period for service of assessments shall be tolled
for the period of time required by the Director of Industrial
Relations to determine whether a project is a public work, including
a determination on administrative appeal, if applicable, pursuant to
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1773.5. The period for service of
assessments shall also be tolled for the period of time that a
contractor or subcontractor fails to provide in a timely manner
certified payroll records pursuant to a request from the Labor
Commissioner or a joint labor-management committee under Section
1776, or an approved labor compliance program under Section 1771.5 or
1771.7.
(b) The person filing a notice of completion in the office of a
county recorder pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1741 shall at
the same time also provide notice to the Labor Commissioner, in a
manner determined by the Labor Commissioner. The awarding body or
political subdivision accepting a public work under subdivision (a)
of Section 1741 shall provide notice of that acceptance to the Labor
Commissioner within five days of the acceptance, in a manner
determined by the Labor Commissioner. The 180-day period for service
of assessments shall be tolled for the length of time notice is not
given in a timely manner to the Labor Commissioner pursuant to this
subdivision.
(b) (1) The body awarding the contract for public work shall
furnish, within 10 days after receipt of a written request from the
Labor Commissioner, a copy of the valid notice of completion for the
public work filed in the office of the county recorder, or a document
evidencing the awarding body's acceptance of the public work on a
particular date, whichever occurs later, by first-class mail
addressed to the office of the Labor Commissioner that is listed on
the written request. If, at the time of receipt of the Labor
Commissioner's written request, a valid notice of completion has not
been filed by the awarding body in the office of the county recorder
and there is no document evidencing the awarding body's acceptance of
the public work on a particular date, the awarding body shall so
notify the office of the Labor Commissioner that is listed on the
written request. Thereafter, the awarding body shall furnish copies
of the applicable document within 10 days after filing a valid notice
of completion with the county recorder's office, or within 10 days
of the awarding body's acceptance of the public work on a particular
date.
(2) If the awarding body fails to timely furnish the Labor
Commissioner with the documents identified in paragraph (1), the
period for service of assessments under Section 1741 shall be tolled
until the Labor Commissioner's actual receipt of the valid notice of
completion for the public work or a document evidencing the awarding
body's acceptance of the public work on a particular date.
(c) The tolling provisions in this section shall also apply to the
period of time for commencing an action brought by a joint
labor-management committee pursuant to Section 1771.2.
SECTION 1. Section 687 is added to the Business
and Professions Code, to read:
687. (a) (1) A medical group or clinic shall not state, verbally
or in writing, that it is within a patient's plan network or provider
network unless all of the individual providers providing services
with the medical group or clinic are within that plan network or
provider network.
(2) If any of the providers are not within the plan network or
provider network, then the medical group or clinic shall recommend
that the patient contact his or her health care service plan or
health insurer for information about providers who are within the
patient's plan network or medical network.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) "Clinic" means a surgical center as defined in paragraph (1)
of subdivision (b) of Section 1204 of the Health and Safety Code, an
outpatient setting as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of
Section 1248 of the Health and Safety Code, or an ambulatory surgical
center certified to participate in the Medicare Program under Title
XVIII of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1395 et
seq.).
(2) "Plan network" means any entity, group of providers, or
individual providers contracted with a preferred provider
organization plan contract or point-of-service plan contract.
(3) "Provider network" means any entity, group of providers, or
provider contracted with a preferred provider organization health
insurance policy.
(4) "Medical group" means any entity, group of providers, or any
other similar organization that contracts with a preferred provider
organization.
(c) This section shall not apply to emergency services and care.
SEC. 2. Section 1250.04 is added to the Health
and Safety Code, to read:
1250.04. (a) (1) Prior to providing nonemergency services and
care to a patient, a hospital shall provide a written notice to the
patient stating that individual providers providing services within
the hospital may not be in the patient's plan network or provider
network.
(2) The hospital notice shall recommend that the patient contact
his or her health care service plan or health insurer for information
about providers who are within the patient's plan network or
provider network.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) "Hospital" means a general acute care hospital as defined in
subdivision (a) of Section 1250.
(2) "Plan network" means any entity, group of providers, or
individual providers contracted with a preferred provider
organization plan contract or point-of-service plan contract.
(3) "Provider network" means any entity, group of providers, or
provider contracted with a preferred provider organization health
insurance policy.
(c) This section shall not apply to emergency services and care.
(d) This section shall not apply if all of the providers providing
services within the hospital are within the same plan network or
provider network as the hospital.
SEC. 3. 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.