BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          AB 1526 (Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care) - Behavioral  
          Risk Factor Surveillance System survey:  caregiver module
          
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          |Version: March 16, 2015         |Policy Vote: HEALTH 8 - 0       |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: August 17, 2015   |Consultant: Brendan McCarthy    |
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          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.

          Bill  
          Summary:  AB 1526 would require the Department of Public Health  
          to include additional questions relating to caregiving in the  
          annual Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  Annual costs of $150,000 per year to expand the  
          existing survey to include the optional caregiving module  
          (General Fund). The Department of Public Health indicates that  
          it costs $7,500 per additional question to expand the existing  
          survey, including the costs to conduct phone interviews and  
          compile responses.


          Background:  Under current federal and state law, the Department of Public  
          Health conducts telephone survey each year, entitled the  
          Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. This survey  
          includes questions relating to health status and  
          health-impacting behaviors such as smoking, diet, and exercise.  
          The Department of Public Health includes standard health  







          AB 1526 (Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care)                   
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          questions developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control  
          and Prevention as well as 131 additional questions added by the  
          Department relating to public health. In addition to the core  
          questions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has  
          developed optional modules, including an optional module on  
          caregiving.


          Proposed Law:  
            AB 1526 would require the Department of Public Health to  
          include additional questions relating to caregiving in the  
          annual Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. The  
          bill would require the additional questions to be included each  
          year from 2016 to 2021.


          Staff  
          Comments:  Currently, the response rate (which reflects  
          completed surveys) is 39%. According to the Department,  
          expanding the number of questions in the survey does reduce the  
          response rate, as some respondents do not wish to complete the  
          full survey. It is not known whether adding nine additional  
          questions will have a significant impact on the current response  
          rate.


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