BILL NUMBER: AB 1739 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 16, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Waldron
FEBRUARY 1, 2016
An act to amend Section 2827.3 of the Public Utilities
Code, relating to electricity. An act to add Section
14133.75 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to Medi-Cal.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1739, as amended, Waldron. Net energy metering.
Medi-Cal: allergy testing.
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 provides for a schedule of
benefits under the Medi-Cal program, and authorizes the use of
utilization controls, including prior authorization, that may be
applied to those covered benefits and that are reviewed for, among
other things, medical necessity. Under the Medi-Cal program, a
service is "medically necessary" or a "medical necessity" when it is
reasonable and necessary to protect life, to prevent significant
illness or significant disability, or to alleviate severe pain.
This bill would require the department to treat serologic-specific
IgE allergy tests and percutaneous skin allergy tests as equivalent
in their sensitivity and accuracy for confirming the existence of an
allergy in a patient, and to treat those tests as medically necessary
for those individuals with a medical history consistent with
specified conditions. The bill would require the department to update
its provider bulletins, as necessary, to reference the most current
professional literature and guidance related to allergy testing.
Existing law requires all electric utilities to develop a standard
contract or tariff providing for net energy metering, and to make
this contract available to eligible customer generators, upon
request, except as provided. Existing law requires the Public
Utilities Commission to complete a study by October 1, 2013, to
determine who benefits from, and who bears the economic burden, if
any, of the net energy metering program, and to determine the extent
to which each class of ratepayers and each region of the state
receiving service under the net energy metering program is paying the
full cost of the services provided to them by electrical
corporations, and the extent to which those customers pay their share
of the costs of public purpose programs. Existing law requires the
commission to report the results of the study to the Legislature
within 30 days of its completion.
This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to this provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Historically, allergies were diagnosed by an allergist who
used a percutaneous, or "skin-prick," test to infect the skin of a
patient with varying allergens for the purpose of determining the
patient's reaction to those allergens. This procedure required the
patient to be referred by his or her primary care physician to an
allergist, and required the patient to undergo a series of pricks to
his or her skin.
(b) Advances in blood testing technology using serologic-specific
IgE quantitative testing allow a patient to be diagnosed without a
referral to a specialist.
(c) Professional literature and guidance from the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health has
determined that blood tests and skin tests for allergies are equal in
their diagnostic value, and that blood testing is preferred in the
case of testing for food allergies.
(d) Private health care insurance plans recognize the professional
literature and guidelines regarding the efficacy of blood testing
and cover blood testing for the diagnosis of allergies.
(e) Medi-Cal does not cover blood testing for allergies in the
same manner as private health care insurance.
(f) Fee-for-service Medi-Cal patients are not receiving the same
level of care as patients with private health insurance coverage. Due
to an insufficient number of allergists available to diagnose and
treat Medi-Cal patients, the diagnosis of many patients covered by
Medi-Cal is delayed or never occurs.
(g) Medi-Cal coverage decisions must be based on the latest and
most current medical literature and studies.
SEC. 2. Section 14133.75 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code , to read:
14133.75. (a) The department shall treat serologic-specific IgE
tests and percutaneous skin tests as equivalent confirmatory tests in
terms of their sensitivity and accuracy, and shall treat them as
medically necessary for those individuals with a medical history
consistent with any of the following:
(1) An inhalant allergy.
(2) A food allergy.
(3) Hymenoptera venom allergy or an allergy to stinging insects.
(4) Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA).
(5) Certain parasitic diseases.
(6) Allergies to specific drugs.
(b) The department shall update its provider bulletins, as
necessary, to reference the most current professional literature and
guidance related to allergy testing.
SECTION 1. Section 2827.3 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
2827.3. (a) By October 1, 2013, the commission shall complete a
study to determine who benefits from, and who bears the economic
burden, if any, of, the net energy metering program authorized
pursuant to Section 2827, and to determine the extent to which each
class of ratepayers and each region of the state receiving service
under the net energy metering program is paying the full cost of the
services provided to them by electrical corporations, and the extent
to which those customers pay their share of the costs of public
purpose programs. In evaluating program costs and benefits for
purposes of the study, the commission shall consider all electricity
generated by renewable electric generating systems, including the
electricity used onsite to reduce a customer's consumption of
electricity that otherwise would be supplied through the electrical
grid, as well as the electrical output that is being fed back to the
electrical grid for which the customer receives credit or net surplus
electricity compensation under net energy metering. The study shall
quantify the costs and benefits of net energy metering to
participants and nonparticipants and shall further disaggregate the
results by utility, customer class, and household income groups
within the residential class. The study shall further gather and
present data on the income distribution of residential net energy
metering participants. In order to assess the costs and benefits at
various levels of net energy metering implementation, the study shall
be conducted using multiple net energy metering penetration
scenarios, including, at a minimum, the capacity needed to reach the
solar photovoltaic goals of the California Solar Initiative pursuant
to Section 25780 of the Public Resources Code, and the estimated net
energy metering capacity under the 5-percent minimum requirement of
paragraphs (1) and (4) of subdivision (c) of Section 2827.
(b) (1) The commission shall report the results of the study to
the Legislature within 30 days of the study's completion.
(2) The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795
of the Government Code.
(3) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
section is repealed on July 1, 2017.