BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session AB 174 (Gray) - University of California: medical education. ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: June 1, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 7 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: No | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: This bill makes an annual General Fund appropriation of $1.255 million to the University of California (UC) to support the expansion of UC Merced's San Joaquin Valley (SJV) Program in Medical Education (PRIME). This bill makes legislative findings and declarations relative to health care needs in the San Joaquin Valley. Fiscal Impact: $1.255 million annually, beginning in 2016-17. Additional cost pressure of up to $600,000 to fund an additional 18 students under the program's existing funding structure. (General Fund) Potentially significant cost pressure to expand PRIME programs at other UC campuses. Background: UC Programs in Medical Education (PRIME) is a medical AB 174 (Gray) Page 1 of ? education program focused on meeting the needs of California's underserved populations in both rural communities and urban areas by combining specialized coursework, structured clinical experiences, advanced independent study, and mentoring. Each new program has an area of focus that is selected based upon faculty expertise, the populations served by each school and its medical center, and other local considerations. Each PRIME program is designed to educate and train future physician leaders, researchers, and advocates for the communities they will serve. For example, PRIME in San Joaquin Valley (SJV) emphasizes improving the health of people in the Central Valley region. As of 2014-15, there are an estimated 333 medical students in PRIME. SJV PRIME was established in 2010 as a partnership between UC Merced, UC Davis School of Medicine, and UCSF Fresno to train medical students in the region. The first class of students entered the program in the fall of 2011. There were 27 students enrolled in the program for the 2014-15 school year. Proposed Law: This bill appropriates $1.255 million from the General Fund to the University of California (UC) annually, beginning with the 2016-17 fiscal year to support expansion of the San Joaquin Valley PRIME program to admit up to 12 students per year and operate the program with up to 48 student participants from across the four-year curriculum annually. This bill provides Legislative findings and declarations that, among other things, medical education and a possible future UC Merced School of Medicine will further contribute to the economic growth of the San Joaquin Valley and the state, and will further support UC Merced's trajectory toward becoming a top-tier university. It also provides that UC Merced's SJV PRIME is providing a key interim resource for training valley health care providers. Related Legislation: SB 131 (Cannella, 2015) and SB 841 (Canella, 2014) are substantially similar to this bill, but instead appropriated $1.855 million to the UC from the General Fund for the SJV PRIME program. These bills were held in this AB 174 (Gray) Page 2 of ? Committee. Staff Comments: This bill appropriates funding to support a total of 30 students in the San Joaquin Valley PRIME across the four years based on the program's current cost structure. To support total enrollment above 30 students, an additional appropriation will be needed or the program will have to absorb the costs of increased enrollment. This bill creates a cost pressure of up to $600,000 to fund an additional 18 students, for total program enrollment of 48 and costs of $1.855 million. An additional cost pressure could potentially arise to expand other PRIME programs. Staff notes that efforts have been made in recent budgets to support the development of two UC medical schools. The Budget Act of 2015 includes provisional language requiring the UC to continue planning for a school of medicine at the Merced campus, and requires the UC to allocate up to $1 million from its budget appropriation or other funds available to the university for this purpose. The Budget Act of 2013 included trailer bill language requiring UC to allocate $15 million for planning and startup costs associated with academic programs to be offered by the School of Medicine at UC Riverside. -- END --