BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 809
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 21, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 809 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: August 5, 2013
Policy Committee: Business and
Professions Vote: 14-0
Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill creates a funding mechanism to update and maintain the
Department of Justice (DOJ) Controlled Substance Utilization
Review and Evaluation System (CURES) Prescription Drug
Monitoring Program (PDMP). Specifically, this bill:
1)Assesses an annual $6 fee on the following licensees to pay
the reasonable costs associated with operating and maintaining
CURES for the purpose of regulating these licensees:
Physicians, dentists, podiatrists, veterinarians, naturopathic
doctors, pharmacists, registered nurse, certified
nurse-midwives, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and
optometrists, as specified; wholesalers and nonresident
wholesalers of dangerous drugs, as specified; nongovernmental
clinics, nonprofit clinics, and free clinics, as specified;
and nongovernmental pharmacies, as specified.
2)Requires the fee to be collected at the time of the licensee's
license renewal and be deposited into the CURES Fund, created
by this bill, to be available, upon appropriation, to the
Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to reimburse DOJ.
3)Permits DOJ to seek voluntarily contributed private funds from
insurers, health care service plans, and qualified
manufacturers for the purpose of supporting CURES, as
specified. Requires DOJ to annually report to the Legislature,
and make public the amount and source of funds it receives for
support of CURES.
SB 809
Page 2
4)Requires DOJ, in conjunction with DCA and the appropriate
boards and committees, to implement a streamlined application
and approval process to provide access to the CURES PDMP
database for licensed health care practitioners.
5)Requires the Medical Board to "periodically develop and
disseminate" information and educational material regarding
the risk of abusing controlled substances, as well as
information relating to CURES, to licensed physicians,
surgeons and acute care hospitals.
FISCAL EFFECT
Ongoing special fund costs in the $1.5 million range, fully
covered by the proposed fee structure, to staff and maintain the
upgraded PDMP. The related costs to upgrade the PDMP database -
almost $3 million - received funding in the 2013-14 budget bill.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . Sponsored by DOJ, this bill provides a funding
scheme for the ongoing operations of the CURES PDMP. According
to the author, "SB 809 provides essential funding to continue
and strengthen the CURES PDMP, a vital resource for medical
professionals and law enforcement to detect and prevent
prescription drug abuse and addiction, and save lives. Without
dedicated funding, the CURES program will be suspended and
California will join Missouri as the only state in the nation
without a PDMP.
"Prescription drug abuse is the Nation's fastest-growing drug
problem and has been classified as a public health epidemic by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One hundred
people die from drug overdoses every day in the United States
and prescription painkillers are responsible for 75% of these
deaths, claiming more lives than heroin and cocaine combined,
and fueling a doubling of drug-related deaths in the United
States over the last decade."
2)CURES/PDMP Background. To combat prescription drug abuse, the
California Triplicate Prescription Program (TPP) was created
in 1939. It was replaced by CURES in 1997, and in 2009, the
PDMP system was implemented as a searchable database component
of CURES. The database contains more than 100 million entries
of controlled substance drugs dispensed in California. In
SB 809
Page 3
2012, the program responded to more than 800,000 requests.
Pharmacists are required to report dispensations of Schedules
II, III and IV controlled substances at least weekly; PDMP by
prescribers and dispensers for prescription abuse
prevention/intervention is voluntary.
The 2011-12 budget bill eliminated GF support of CURES/PDMP.
DOJ struggled to keep the program operative, cobbling together
temporary staff and student interns. This bill is the result
of a lengthy and collaborative effort to establish a stable
and ongoing funding scheme.
3)Support includes a lengthy and varied list of organizations,
including the Attorney General, the American and CA Medical
Associations, Association of CA Insurance Companies, CA
Department of Insurance, CA Hospital Association, CA Labor
Federation, CA Police Chiefs Association, CA Retailers
Association, CA State Sheriffs Association, MBC, and UC.
According to the Attorney General's (AG's) Office, The
majority of the CURES funding was cut during the Fiscal Year
2011-12 budget and CURES and the PDMP have since been staffed
by a single AG employee. Additionally, the current PDMP is a
dated, unstable program that has needed an upgrade to meet the
needs of prescribers and pharmacists.
4)"The current budget funds the upgrade of the PDMP, and this
legislation is necessary to provide the ongoing funding to
operate and maintain the program."
5)There is no confirmed opposition .
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081