BILL NUMBER: AB 1219	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Baker

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add Article 4 (commencing with Section 104210) to
Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 103 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to public health.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1219, as introduced, Baker. California Cancer Task Force.
   Under existing law the State Department of Health Care Services is
required to develop and maintain the Breast and Cervical Cancer
Treatment Program to expand and ensure quality breast and cervical
cancer treatment for low-income uninsured and underinsured
individuals who are diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer, and is
required to develop and implement a program to provide quality
prostate cancer treatment for low-income and uninsured men. The State
Department of Public Health is required to perform various public
health functions, including providing for breast and cervical cancer
screening services.
   This bill would require the State Department of Health Care
Services and the State Department of Public Health to convene a joint
California Cancer Task Force to coordinate the agencies' efforts to
address the most prevalent forms of cancer in California with
specific goals, as provided.
   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.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study--3
recruited over 300,000 adults across the United States to help better
understand the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that
cause or prevent cancer.
   (b) In 2014, scientists estimated that in California more than
1,382,200 people would live with a history of cancer, nearly 156,000
would be diagnosed with cancer, and more than 56,000 would die of
cancer.
   (c) From 1988 to 2010, cancer incidence rates in California
declined by 9 percent.
   (d) Despite these improvements, it is estimated nearly one in two
Californians born today will develop cancer at some point in their
lives, and it is likely that one in five will die of the disease.
   (e) The exact reasons why one individual develops cancer, and
another individual with very similar life experiences does not, are
beyond scientific understanding. Just as there are many different
types of cancers, there are many factors that contribute to an
individual's risk of developing cancer.
   (f) The goal of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention
Study--3 is to better understand those factors that contribute to
cancer.
  SEC. 2.  Article 4 (commencing with Section 104210) is added to
Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 103 of the Health and Safety Code, to
read:

      Article 4.  California Cancer Task Force


   104210.  The State Department of Health Care Services and the
State Department of Public Health shall convene a joint California
Cancer Task Force to coordinate the agencies' efforts to address the
most prevalent forms of cancer in California with all of the
following specific goals:
   (a) Improving early diagnosis and proper case management of cancer
within the Medi-Cal program and other publicly funded health care
programs.
   (b) Improving outreach and education efforts to ensure California
physicians benefit from the latest methods for early diagnosis and
treatment of the most prevalent forms of cancer in California.
   (c) Improving patient awareness of the need for early diagnosis
of, and available treatments for, the most prevalent forms of cancer
in California.