Amended in Senate May 12, 2015

Amended in Senate April 29, 2015

Senate Bill No. 131

Introduced by Senator Cannella

(Principal begin delete coauthor: Senator end delete begin insert coauthors: Senators end insert Galgiani begin insert and Vidak end insert )

(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members begin delete Gray end delete begin insert Alejo, Gray, end insert and Olsen)

January 22, 2015

An act relating to the University of California, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 131, as amended, Cannella. University of California: medical education.

Existing provisions of the California Constitution establish the University of California as a public trust under the administration of the Regents of the University of California. The University of California system includes 10 campuses, which are located in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.

This bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to the role of the University of California with respect to access to health care in the San Joaquin Valley.

The bill would appropriate $1,855,000 from the General Fund to the regents each fiscal year, commencing with the 2016-17 fiscal year, for allocation to the University of California to support expansion of the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education, as specified.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: 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) The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
(Public Law 111-148) provides millions of previously uninsured
Californians access to health services, including physician care.
As a result of this additional demand for physician services,
California’s projected statewide physician shortfall is 17,000 by
2015.

(b) The San Joaquin Valley, which runs from Stockton to
Bakersfield, is rich in cultural diversity and is the nation’s leading
agricultural region. However, the valley is disproportionately
affected by the state’s physician shortage, which is expected to
intensify in the years ahead given the high rate of population
growth in the area. begin delete Access to health care is 31 percent lower in the
San Joaquin Valley than in the rest of California. end delete

begin insert

(c) Access to physicians in the San Joaquin Valley is already
well below the recommended level of 60 to 80 primary care
physicians per 100,000 people, with only 48 primary care
physicians per 100,000 people in the valley. Additionally, more
than 30 percent of California physicians are over 60 years of age.

end insert begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  Several regions of the San Joaquin Valley are federally
designated medically underserved areas (MUAs). The calculation
of MUAs involves four variables: ratio of primary medical care
physicians per 1,000 population, infant mortality rate, percentage
of the population with incomes below the poverty level, and
percentage of the population 65 years of age or over.

begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  UC begin delete Merced’s end delete begin insert Merced end insert San Joaquin Valley Program in
Medical Education begin delete (PRIME) end delete begin insert (SJV PRIME) end insert is providing a key
interim resource for training valley health care providers. This
program accomplishes all of the following:

(1) Strengthens the desire for new physicians to practice in the
San Joaquin Valley, which is one of California’s most medically
underserved areas.

(2) Reduces health disparities and inequalities in the San Joaquin
Valley.

(3) Forms lasting relationships between the program and
communities, hospitals, clinics, and physicians to enhance health
care in the region.

begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  Students who take part in begin delete PRIME end delete begin insert a program in medical
education at a University of California medical school end insert benefit
from firsthand experience with interdisciplinary health care by
providing care in medically underserved communities, working
with patients and families from culturally diverse backgrounds,
and developing a true understanding of the issues and conditions
that impact access to and quality of health care in the region.

begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (g) end insert  Despite begin delete its end delete begin insert the end insert numerous benefits begin delete for its end delete begin insert it provides to the end insert
region, begin insert SJV end insert PRIME lacks an ongoing source of funding for its
current enrollment as well as the financial resources to expand
capacity to meet the needs of the valley.

begin delete

(g)

end delete

begin insert (h) end insert  Given the San Joaquin Valley’s health care needs, it is
essential for the State of California to continue developing the
valley’s health care resources by sustaining the current begin insert SJV end insert PRIME
enrollment and expanding that program’s capacity.

SEC. 2.  

The sum of one million eight hundred fifty-five
thousand dollars ($1,855,000) is hereby appropriated from the
General Fund to the Regents of the University of California each
fiscal year, commencing with the 2016-17 fiscal year, for
allocation to the University of California to support expansion of
the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education to admit
up to 12 students per year and operate the program with up to 48
student participants from across the four-year curriculum annually.