BILL NUMBER: AB 1216	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 14, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bonta

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to amend Section 14100.3 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to Medi-Cal.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1216, as amended, Bonta. Medi-Cal: plan amendments and waiver
applications.
   Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under
which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services.
The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal
Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law grants the department the
rights and duties necessary to conform to requirements for securing
approval of an agreement, or state plan, between the state and the
federal government under Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act
that describes the nature and scope of the Medi-Cal program.
Existing law requires the department to seek approval from the
federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of any
amendments to the state plan or a waiver from the requirements of the
act for the purposes of continued federal financial participation
under the act. Existing law requires the department to post on its
Internet Web site all submitted state plan amendments and all federal
waiver applications and requests for new waivers, waiver amendments,
and waiver renewals and extensions, within 10 business days from the
date of submission of those documents to CMS. Existing law requires
the department to post on its Internet Web site all pending submitted
state plan amendments and federal waiver applications and requests
that the department submitted to CMS in 2009 and every year
thereafter.
   This bill would instead require the department to post on its
Internet Web Site all submitted state plan amendments and all federal
waiver applications and requests for new waivers, waiver amendments,
and waiver renewals and extensions within 7 business days from the
date of submission, and would also require the department to post all
pending submitted state plan amendments and federal waiver
applications and requests.  The bill would require the department
to accept public comment on all state plan amendments and waivers,
as specified, and would authorize use of information from the
comments to make amendments to those documents. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 14100.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   14100.3.  (a)  (1)    The State Department of
Health Care Services shall post on its Internet Web site all
submitted state plan amendments and all federal waiver applications
and requests for new waivers, waiver amendments, and waiver renewals
and extensions, within seven business days from the date the
department submits these documents for approval to the federal
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). 
   (2) The department shall accept public comment on all submitted
state plan amendments and all federal waiver applications and
requests for new waivers, waiver amendments, and waiver renewals and
extensions, for a period of 30 days from the date the department
submits these documents for approval to CMS, and post the comments on
the department's Internet Web site. The department shall not be
required to respond to any comment submitted. However, the department
may use any information provided in the comments to make amendments
to any submitted state plan amendment or waiver, as the department
deems necessary. 
   (b) The department shall post on its Internet Web site final
approval or denial letters and accompanying documents for all
submitted state plan amendments and federal waiver applications and
requests within 10 business days from the date the department
receives notification of final approval or denial from CMS.
   (c) If the department notifies CMS of the withdrawal of a
submitted state plan amendment or federal waiver application or
request, as described in subdivisions (a) and (b), the department
shall post on its Internet Web site the withdrawal notification
within 10 business days from the date the department notifies CMS of
the withdrawal.
   (d) Unless already posted on the Internet Web site pursuant to
subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, the department shall post on its
Internet Web site all pending submitted state plan amendments and
federal waiver applications and requests.