BILL NUMBER: AB 847 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 10, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Mullin and Ridley-Thomas
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to add Section 14021.2 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to mental health, making an appropriation
therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 847, as amended, Mullin. Mental health: community-based
services.
Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act, an initiative
measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2,
2004, statewide general election, establishes the continuously
appropriated Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county
mental health programs. The act provides that it may be amended by
the Legislature by a 2/3 vote of each house as long as the amendment
is consistent with and furthers the intent of the act, and that the
Legislature may also clarify procedures and terms of the act by
majority vote.
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
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to, among other
things, select, no later than September 1, 2017, among those states
awarded a planning grant to participate in a time-limited
demonstration program that is designed to improve access to community
mental health and substance use treatment services provided by
certified community behavioral health clinics.
This bill would require the department to develop and submit a
proposal to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
to be selected as a participating state in the time-limited
demonstration program described above to receive enhanced federal
matching funds for mental health services provided by certified
community behavioral health clinics to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The
bill would appropriate $1,000,000 from the Mental Health Services Act
Fund to the State Department of Health Care Services to develop that
proposal.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
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
United States 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 United
States Secretary of Health and Human Services for that planning
grant.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no yes .
Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the
following:
(a) In 2014 Congress enacted the federal Protecting Access to
Medicare Act of 2014.
(b) Under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act, eight states will
be selected to have their federal share of costs increased to 65
percent for two years for outpatient behavioral health care for
individuals with severe mental illnesses or serious emotional
disturbances.
(c) If successful, this federal opportunity would enable
California to serve the tens of thousands of individuals with those
conditions that it now lacks the funding to serve.
(d) A major challenge in serving that population is that many are
homeless and in need of housing assistance. Federal funding cannot
pay for that housing assistance.
(e) This federal funding would free up nearly $2 billion in county
funds now being used to match federal funds. The money that is
currently being used to match federal funds will now be available to
be used to meet the housing and other needs of those individuals who
are not currently receiving the behavioral health care that they
need.
(f) In October 2015, the United States Secretary of Health and
Human Services awarded California a planning grant pursuant to
Section 223 of the federal Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014
to support California in, among other things, developing its proposal
to participate in the two-year demonstration program.
(g) The Mental Health Services Act was approved by voters in 2004
for the primary purpose of addressing unmet mental health needs.
(h) It is an appropriate use of Mental Health Services Act funds
to support California's application to participate in this
demonstration program including the use of these funds to prepare
actuarial rates and provide technical assistance to counties seeking
to become certified community behavioral health centers.
(i) Successful participation in this demonstration program will
also result in significant General Fund savings due to reduced
hospitalizations of people with severe mental illnesses who do not
receive the behavioral health treatment they need, as well as savings
from the portion of mental health care that is paid for by Medi-Cal
managed care plans.
SEC. 2. Section 14021.2 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code , to read:
14021.2. (a) The department shall develop and submit a proposal
to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services for
selection as a participating state in the time-limited demonstration
program pursuant to Section 223 of the federal Protecting Access to
Medicare Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-93) in order to improve mental
health services furnished by certified community behavioral health
clinics to Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
(b) The department shall use the funds appropriated in the act
that added this section to pay any costs that will support the
development of a competitive proposal, including, but not limited to,
establishing actuarially sound rates and providing technical
assistance to counties.
SEC. 3. The sum of one million dollars
($1,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the Mental Health Services
Fund to the State Department of Health Care Services for the purpose
of developing the proposal described in Section 14021.2 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to require the State Department of Health Care Services
to develop and submit a proposal to participate in the federal
Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 demonstration program, and
to fund the development of that proposal, before the deadline to
apply for participation in the demonstration program, it is necessary
that this bill go into immediate effect.
SECTION 1. The State Department of Health Care
Services shall apply to the United States 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.
SEC. 2. This act is an urgency statute
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health,
or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and
shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity
are:
The federal Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 requires the
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to award
planning grants no later than January 1, 2016. In order to require
the State Department of Health Care Services to apply for a planning
grant before the secretary awards the planning grants to states, it
is necessary that this bill go into immediate effect.