BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     SB 125  


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          Date of Hearing:  May 27, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          SB 125  
          (Hernandez) - As Amended May 21, 2015


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          Urgency:  Yes State Mandated Local Program:  YesReimbursable:   
          No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill extends the sunset of the California Health Benefits  
          Review Program (CHBRP) for two years to June 30, 2017, and  
          extends the existing assessment on health plans and health  








                                                                     SB 125  


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          insurers to support the program. 

          It also conforms to federal law for (1) annual open enrollment  
          period in the individual health insurance market, and (2) the  
          method of counting employees for the purposes of determining  
          whether an employer is in the small or large group health  
          insurance markets; and makes other technical and conforming  
          changes. 

          FISCAL EFFECT:


          1)Annual costs of $2 million to support the California Health  
            Benefits Review Program (within the University of California),  
            supported by an assessment on health plans and health insurers  
            (Health Care Benefits Fund).



          2)Minor administrative costs for the California Health Benefits  
            Exchange to revise existing regulations to conform to the  
            updated open enrollment period. 



          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill updates California  
            statute to reflect the new health insurance environment by  
            reauthorizing CHBRP for two years and expanding the breadth of  
            CHBRP analyses by requesting the inclusion of impacts from  
            legislation on health insurance benefit design, cost sharing,  
            premiums, and other health insurance topics.  The author  
            indicates this bill makes important technical changes to  
            comply with federal law.


          2)CHBRP.  Established in 2002, pursuant to AB 1996 (Thomson),  








                                                                     SB 125  


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            Chapter 795, Statutes of 2002, CHBRP responds to requests from  
            the Legislature to provide independent analysis of the  
            medical, financial, and public health impacts of proposed  
            health insurance benefit mandates and repeals.  CHBRP is  
            administered in the UC Office of the President, and has staff  
            that supports faculty from six UC campuses and three private  
            universities to complete each analysis.  Health plans and  
            insurers are assessed an annual fee to fund CHBRP in an amount  
            not to exceed $2 million.  Their current sunset on CHBRP's  
            funding authority is less than two months from today, July 1,  
            2015.   


          3)Prior legislation. AB 1578 (Pan) of 2014 extended CHBRP's  
            sunset date to June 30, 2016, and contained similar language  
            to this bill.  AB 1578 died on the Assembly Floor without a  
            concurrence vote. 


          Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081