BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 1465 (Health Committee)
          As Amended August 4, 2014
          2/3 vote.  Urgency

           SENATE VOTE  :35-0 
           
           HEALTH              17-0        APPROPRIATIONS      17-0        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Pan, Maienschein,         |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow,           |
          |     |Ammiano, Bonilla, Bonta,  |     |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian  |
          |     |Chesbro, Gomez, Gonzalez, |     |Calderon, Campos,         |
          |     |Roger Hernández,          |     |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez,  |
          |     |Lowenthal, Mansoor,       |     |Holden, Jones, Linder,    |
          |     |Nazarian, Nestande,       |     |Pan, Quirk,               |
          |     |Patterson, Ridley-Thomas, |     |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner,    |
          |     |Rodriguez, Wieckowski     |     |Weber                     |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Requires local emergency medical services agencies  
          (LEMSAs) to send a status report on their Emergency Medical  
          Services (EMS) Fund reports to the Emergency Medical Services  
          Authority (EMSA), rather than to the Legislature and requires  
          EMSA to compile and send a summary of each LEMSA's report to the  
          Legislature, as specified.  Permits the Department of Health  
          Care Services (DHCS) to cancel a provider application review  
          process if an application package is withdrawn at the request of  
          the applicant or provider.  Reorganizes the quality assurance  
          fee provisions to distinguish between supplemental payment rates  
          (amounts that hospitals are paid) and fee rates (amount that  
          hospitals pay).  Makes numerous technical, clarifying changes to  
          existing law.  Extends the sunset on the California Health  
          Benefits Review Program (CHBRP) from June 30, 2015, to December  
          1, 2015.  Contains an urgency clause to ensure that the  
          provisions of this bill go into immediate effect upon enactment.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee:

          1)Costs to DHCS and EMSA to incorporate changes from this bill  
            into current practice are negligible. 

          2)Extending the sunset on the CHBRP program will result in state  








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            costs for an additional six months.  The program is currently  
            budgeted at $2 million annually. 

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, this bill makes a number of  
          technical and clarifying changes to existing law and two  
          substantive changes.  The author explains that each county  
          establishing an EMS Fund, commonly referred to as a Maddy Fund,  
          is required to compile and send a report to the Legislature each  
          year on the implementation and status of its Maddy Fund.  The  
          only way to access these reports is an in-person visit to the  
          Assembly or Senate Health Committee along with a request in  
          accordance with the Legislative Open Records Act.  Requiring  
          counties to report to the EMSA, and requiring EMSA to compile a  
          summary of these reports, will provide more useful information  
          to the Legislature and improve public access to the information.

          The author further writes, the other major change this bill  
          makes is that currently, DHCS is required to see any application  
          submitted for Medi-Cal provider enrollment through the entire  
          review process.  There is no process for an applicant to  
          withdraw an application, or for DHCS to cancel its review  
          process upon the request of an applicant.  The author argues  
          that by permitting DHCS to implement a withdrawal policy it will  
          lift an unnecessary burden on Medi-Cal Provider Enrollment  
          Division staff to follow through on applications that will never  
          be completed.

          The California Chapter of the American College of Emergency  
          Physicians (California ACEP) writes in support that this bill  
          would make Maddy reports, which are already required of counties  
          that have created a Maddy Fund, easily available to the public  
          through EMSA.  California ACEP states that currently these  
          reports are required to be submitted to the Assembly and Senate  
          Health Committees, making the sole means of access an in-person  
          visit to their State Capitol offices.  Requiring EMSA to both  
          collect the reports and issue annual reports to the Legislature  
          will afford the public better access to these reports.

          There is no known opposition to this bill.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Patty Rodgers / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097  










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