BILL NUMBER: AB 847	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Mullin and Ridley-Thomas

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2015

   An act relating to mental health.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 847, as amended, Mullin. Mental health: community-based
services. 
   Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and
under which qualified low-income persons receive health care
benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by
federal Medicaid provisions. Existing law provides for a schedule of
benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for specified
services, including various mental health services. Existing federal
law, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, requires the
federal Secretary of Health and Human Services to, among other
things, award, no later than January 1, 2016, planning grants to
states for the purpose of developing proposals to participate in
time-limited demonstration programs to improve mental health services
provided by certified community behavioral health clinics to
Medi-Cal beneficiaries.  
   This bill would require the department to apply to the federal
Secretary of Health and Human Services for that planning grant. 

   Existing law establishes the State Department of Health Care
Services and prescribes the department's powers and duties, including
with respect to mental health services. Existing federal law, the
Excellence in Mental Health Act, establishes criteria for the
certification of federally qualified community behavioral health
centers, and requires the administrator of the federal Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration to certify centers
that meet those criteria. The act also authorizes the Secretary of
Health and Human Services to award matching grants to states to
expend funds for the construction or modernization of facilities used
to provide community-based mental health and substance abuse
services.  
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would require the State Department of Health Care
Services to initiate planning and apply for one of those grants.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


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

   SECTION 1.    The State Department of Health Care
Services shall apply to the federal Secretary of Health and Human
Services for the planning grant awarded pursuant to Section 223 of
the federal Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 for the purpose
of developing proposals to participate in time-limited demonstration
programs to improve mental health services provided by certified
community behavioral health clinics to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. 

  SECTION 1.    It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would require the State Department of
Health Care Services to initiate planning and apply to the federal
Secretary of Health and Human Services for a federal matching grant,
under the federal Excellence in Mental Health Act, to expend funds
for the construction or modernization of facilities used to provide
community-based mental health and substance abuse services.