BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 804|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 804
Author: Committee on Health
Amended: 9/4/15
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE: 9-0, 4/29/15
AYES: Hernandez, Nguyen, Hall, Mitchell, Monning, Nielsen,
Pan, Roth, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 39-0, 6/1/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Huff, Jackson, Lara,
Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner,
Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hueso
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-1, 9/10/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Public health
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill updates obsolete references to county mental
health directors and county drug and alcohol program
administrators to instead reference county behavioral health
directors and/or the County Behavioral Health Directors
Association. This bill requires the Department of Health Care
Services to report to the Legislature with quarterly updates on
caseload, estimated expenditures, and related program monitoring
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Page 2
data for the Every Woman Counts Program. This bill deletes
additional references to non-profit hospital service plans not
included in last year's committee bill. This bill provides
technical clean-up to ensure individuals that can prove their
homeless status are not subject to any fee when requesting a
certified record of live birth. This bill extends indefinitely
the sunset date of the California Office of Health Information
Integrity.
Assembly Amendments make technical and clarifying changes.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Regulates provision of programs and services relating to
mental health and alcohol and drug abuse at the state and
local levels.
2)Requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), no
later than January 10 and concurrently with the May Revision
of the annual budget, to provide the fiscal committees of the
Legislature with an estimate package for the Every Woman
Counts (EWC) Program for early detection of breast and
cervical cancer.
3)Establishes the Department of Public Health (DPH) and sets
forth its powers and duties, including, but not limited to,
duties as State Registrar relating to the uniform
administration of provisions relating to vital records and
health statistics.
4)Requires, on or after July 1, 2015, each local registrar or
county recorder to issue, without a fee, a certified record of
live birth to any person who can verify his or her status as a
homeless person or a homeless child or youth, as defined.
5)Permits the Office of Health Information Integrity (CalOHII)
to assume statewide leadership, coordination, policy
formulation, direction, and oversight responsibilities for
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
implementation, and exercises full authority relative to state
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entities to establish policy, provide direction to state
entities, monitor progress, and report on implementation
efforts.
6)Repeals CalOHII on June 30, 2016.
This bill:
1)Replaces obsolete references relevant in existing law to the
California Mental Health Directors Association (CMHDA) and the
County Alcohol and Drug Program Administrators' Association of
California (CADPAAC) to instead reference the County
Behavioral Health Directors Association of California (CBHDAC)
to reflect the merging of the two organizations.
2)Replaces references to county mental health directors and
county alcohol and drug program administrators to instead
reference the county behavioral health directors.
3)Requires DHCS to provide the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature with quarterly updates on
caseload, estimated expenditures, and related program
monitoring data for the EWC Program.
4)Clarifies that a person can verify his or her status as a
homeless person or a homeless child or youth, in addition to
verification provided by a homeless services provider, is to
be issued a certified record of live birth, as specified,
without an issuance fee or any other associated fee.
5)Deletes sunset date for CalOHII.
6)Deletes obsolete references to nonprofit hospital service
plans in three provisions of Medi-Cal law.
Comments
1)Author's statement. According to the author, this bill makes
a number of technical and clarifying changes to existing law
and other substantive changes:
Last year, the Legislature decided, unanimously, to assist
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individuals enduring difficult times in their efforts to get
back on their feet by not subjecting homeless persons or
homeless youth to a fee when requesting a certified record of
live birth. Nearly every government program or social service,
programs that these individuals so desperately need, require
some form of identification, including a birth certificate. This
bill will further clarify that homeless individuals are not
subject to any surprise fees as they seek the documentation
needed to access social services programs.
This bill will also extend the sunset date of the California
Office of Health Information Integrity (CalOHII) indefinitely.
CalOHII has focused on making confidential health information
available in the most secure ways and the sunset date has
continued to be extended. At a time when confidentiality,
particularly of personal health information, is paramount, the
work done by CalOHII will be needed in the immediate and distant
future.
2)County Behavioral Health Directors Association. As of 2004,
California administered its alcohol, drug and mental health
programs in two separate agencies, the now-defunct Department
of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) and the Department of
Mental Health (DMH). The California Performance Review
published in its 2004 report a set of recommendations for
developing a more efficient and effective government. One of
the recommendations included consolidating the management of
the behavioral health programs to improve coordination of
county administered services to persons suffering from both
mental illness and substance use disorders. Ultimately, ADP
was folded into DHCS and some functions of DMH were also
folded into DHCS while others were incorporated into the newly
formed Department of State Hospitals. Similarly, on July 1,
2014 the CMHDA and the CADPAAC became the CBHDAC to also
reflect the need to integrate mental health and drug and
alcohol use services.
3)EWC Program. According to the DHCS Web site, the EWC Program
provides free clinical breast exams, mammograms, pelvic exams,
and Pap tests to Californias underserved women. The mission of
EWC is to save lives by preventing and reducing the
devastating effects of cancer for Californians through
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education, early detection, diagnosis and treatment, and inte
grated preventive services, with special emphasis on the
underserved. In 2010, DPH was required to provide the fiscal
committees of the Legislature detailed estimate packages in
the Governors January and May budget proposals each year f4)or
the EWC Program. DPH was also required to provide the
appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature
with quarterly reports that include all expenditure data
available for this Program. In 2012, the EWC Program was
transferred from DPH to DHCS. With the passage of AB 82
(Committee on Budget, Chapter 23, Statutes of 2013), DHCS is
now required to provide the fiscal committees with similar
estimate packages that were once provided by DPH. This bill
requires DHCS to provide the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees with the quarterly updates for the EWC Program that
were once provided by DPH.
5)Vital records. The base fee for a copy of a birth certificate
was $12 and counties were allowed to raise the fee to cover
the costs of modernizing vital record operations and improving
the collection and analysis of health related birth and death
certificate information (costs ranged on average from $23 to
$28.) With the enactment of AB 1733 (Quirk-Silva, Chapter 764,
Statutes of 2014), beginning on or after July 1, 2015, local
registrars or county recorders will be required to issue a
birth certificate without a fee to homeless persons.
During a teleconference convened by DPH, which consultants of
the Senate Health Committee joined, concerns of language
ambiguity were raised about the reference to "a fee." The
intent of AB 1733 was clear that no individual, who can prove
his or her homeless status, is subject to a fee for requesting
a birth certificate. The sponsors of AB 1733 are concerned
that, as drafted, a "search fee," separate from an "issuance
fee" could be charged. This bill clarifies that a birth
certificate will be provided, upon verification of housing
status without any fee to a homeless person or youth.
Prior Legislation
SB 1465 (Committee on Health, Chapter 442, Statutes of 2014),
among other provisions, deleted obsolete references to nonprofit
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hospital service plans in two provisions of Medi-Cal law.
AB 1733 (Quirk-Silva, Chapter 764, Statutes of 2014) requires
each local registrar or county recorder, without a fee, to issue
a certified record of live birth to any person who can verify
his or her status as a homeless person or a homeless child or
youth and a homeless services provider that has knowledge of a
person's housing status shall verify a person's status for the
purposes of exemption from a fee. The bill also requires DPH to
develop an affidavit attesting to an applicant's status as a
homeless person or homeless child or youth and that the
affidavit is not complete until signed by both the person making
the request for the record and the homeless services provider
with knowledge of the person's housing status.
AB 82 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 23, Statutes of 2013)
requires DHCS, no later than January 10 and concurrently with
the release of the May Revision, to provide the fiscal
committees of the Legislature with an estimate package for the
EWC Program.
AB 1467 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 23, Statutes of 2012)
extended the sunset on CalOHII to June 30, 2016. The bill also
transferred the EWC Program, the Prostate Cancer Treatment
Program, and the Family Planning Access Care and Treatment
Program from DPH to the DHCS.
SB 853 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 717,
Statutes of 2010) required DPH to include detailed estimate
packages in the Governor's January and May budget proposals each
year for the Women Infant and Children Program, Licensing and
Certification Program, and the EWC Program. The bill also
required DPH to provide the appropriate fiscal and policy
committees of the Legislature with quarterly reports that
include all expenditure data available for this program.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, annual costs
of $3.7 million ($2.4 million General Fund and $1.3 million
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reimbursements) to extend indefinitely the operations of the
CalOHII.
SUPPORT: (Verified9/10/15)
California State Association of Counties
County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California
Housing California
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/10/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The California State Association of
Counties states in support that the merging of the organizations
CMHDA and CADPAAC is a reflection of the integration of the
mental health and substance use disorder agencies at the county
level and general understanding that these areas are often
interdependent of each other and the people they serve.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-1, 9/10/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim,
Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NOES: Dodd
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Eggman, Frazier
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Prepared by: Juan Reyes / HEALTH /
9/10/15 23:28:27
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