Amended in Assembly May 12, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 30, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 861

Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein

February 26, 2015

An act to add Section 14021.2 to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health begin delete services, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. end delete begin insert services. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 861, as amended, Maienschein. 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 begin delete federal end delete begin insert United States end insert 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 begin delete for that planning grant. end delete begin insert to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to be selected as a participating state in the time-limited demonstration program to receive enhanced federal matching funds for mental health services provided by certified community behavioral health clinics if the department applies for, and is awarded, a planning grant to develop its proposal to participate in the demonstration program. end insert The bill would require the department to work with counties and other stakeholders in developing its proposal. The bill would also require the proposal to include plans for counties to redirect a portion of the funds currently used to match federal funds to providing increased housing opportunities for individuals with severe mental illnesses, as specified.

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This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

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Vote:  begin delete ²⁄₃ end delete begin insert majority end insert . Appropriation: no. 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 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 90
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 needs of those individuals
who are not currently receiving the behavioral health care that they
need.

SEC. 2.  

Section 14021.2 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:

14021.2.  

(a)  begin delete The end delete begin insert If the end insert department begin delete shall apply end delete begin insert applies end insert to the
begin delete federal end delete begin insert United States end insert Secretary of Health and Human Services begin delete for end delete
begin insert for, and is awarded, end insert 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
furnished by certified community behavioral health clinics to
Medi-Cal begin delete beneficiaries. The end delete begin insert beneficiaries, the end insert department shall
begin delete also end delete submit an application for the subsequent competitive grant
competition to be selected as a participating state in the
demonstration program.

(b) In planning to develop its proposal for the competitive grant,
the department shall work with counties and other stakeholders to
identify the unmet need for the covered services and to estimate
the number of individuals who will need housing assistance.

(c) The competitive grant proposal shall include plans for
counties to redirect a portion of the funds that are currently used
to match federal funds but will not be needed for that purpose
during the grant period to provide increased housing opportunities
for individuals with severe mental illnesses.

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SEC. 3.  

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 federal 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 federal Secretary of Health and Human
Services awards the planning grants to states, it is necessary that
this bill go into immediate effect.

end delete