BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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(Without Reference to File)
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
833 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review)
As Amended June 10, 2016
Majority vote. Budget Bill Appropriation Takes Effect
Immediately
SENATE VOTE: 25-11
SUMMARY: This is the Omnibus Health Trailer Bill for 2016-17.
It contains necessary changes related to the Budget Act of 2016.
This bill makes various statutory changes to implement the
2016-17 budget. Specifically, this bill:
1)Children's Mental Health Crisis. Expands the "Investment in
Mental Health Wellness Act of 2013" to apply to children.
Adds as an objective of the Act to provide a complete
continuum of crisis services for children and youth 21 years
of age and under, including early intervention and treatment
services, crisis intervention, crisis stabilization and crisis
residential treatment, increased mobile crisis support teams,
crisis stabilization services and beds, crisis residential
treatment beds, triage personnel, family respite care, and
family supportive training and related services.
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2)Children's Mental Health Crisis. Authorizes the Mental Health
Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to use
resources provided for children's mental health crisis
services to administer a competitive grant program to increase
mobile crisis support, crisis intervention, crisis
stabilization services, crisis residential treatment, family
respite care, family supportive training and related services
and triage personnel for children.
3)Children's Mental Health Crisis. Authorizes the California
Health Facilities Financing Authority to use resources
provided for children's mental health crisis services to be
made available to counties, private nonprofit corporations and
public agencies to expand capital, equipment acquisition and
program startup or expansion costs to increase crisis services
for children.
4)Estate Recovery Limitations. Limits estate recovery under
Medi-Cal to those services required to be collected under
federal law; limits the definition of "estate" to include only
the real and personal property and other assets required to be
collected under federal law; requires the Department of Health
Care Services (DHCS) to waive its claim, as a substantial
hardship, when the estate subject to recovery is a homestead
of modest value; prohibits recovery from the estate of a
deceased Medi-Cal member who is survived by a spouse or
registered domestic partner; and ensures that Medi-Cal members
can easily receive timely information about how much their
estate may owe Medi-Cal when they die.
5)Acupuncture Optional Benefit. Requires that acupuncture be a
covered benefit in the Medi-Cal program, beginning July 1,
2016.
6)PACE Modernization. Reforms the rate setting methodology for
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the Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)
programs by utilizing the rate-setting methodology used for
managed care organizations; specifies that the rate setting
methodology shall address unique features of PACE programs and
high cost drugs and treatments; requires DHCS to calculate an
upper payment limit for payments to PACE programs; requires
DHCS to adjust the rates for the first two years of a new PACE
program; eliminates from law the cap on the number of PACE
programs; clarifies that PACE programs may be for-profit
organizations; and authorizes DHCS to seek federal approval to
allow for administrative flexibilities within the operations
of PACE programs.
7)Behavioral Health Treatment Transition Contract. Authorizes
DHCS to expedite the contract process for the procurement of
case management services, until March 31, 2017, for
institutionally deemed Medi-Cal beneficiaries who receive
behavioral health treatment through Regional Centers, and for
whom those services are being transitioned to Medi-Cal, and
they will lose their Medi-Cal eligibility due to no longer
being institutionally-deemed eligible.
8)Medi-Cal Workers Compensation. Eliminates the sunset
provision of the operative Labor Code Section 138.7 and
indefinitely extends the Department of Industrial Relations
authority to supply work-related injury or claim data from the
Workers' Compensation Information System to DHCS.
9)Medi-Cal Emergency Medical Air Transportation. Removes a
statutory requirement that DHCS study long-term funding
strategies to replace the existing traffic penalty fee funding
for emergency medical air transportation and instead requires
DHCS, by March 1, 2017, in coordination with the Department of
Finance, to notify the Legislature of the fiscal impact to
Medi-Cal of, and the planned reimbursement methodology for,
emergency medical air transportation services after the
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termination of penalty assessments pursuant to subdivision (f)
of Section 76000.10 of the Government Code on January 1, 2018.
10)Electronic Health Records. Increases the statutory cap on
General Fund in the Electronic Health Records Incentive
program from $200,000 to $425,000.
11)Supplemental Drug Rebates. Makes technical changes to
statute to clarify DHCS's authority to collect state
supplemental drug rebates.
12)Outpatient Drug Federal Final Rule. Authorizes DHCS to
comply with the federal Final Rule related to reimbursements
for covered outpatient drugs, requiring states to align
pharmacy reimbursements with actual acquisition costs of
drugs, and to pay an appropriate professional dispensing fee,
beginning April 1, 2017.
13)County COLA. Suspends the county cost-of-living adjustment
(COLA) for Medi-Cal eligibility work rates for 2016-17.
14)Long-Term Care Fund Continuous Appropriation. Makes the
Long-Term Care Quality Assurance Fund continuously
appropriated without regard to fiscal year.
15)Naloxone Grant Program. Establishes a community grant
program in the Department of Public Health (DPH) that provides
naloxone kits, for the prevention of overdose fatalities, to
community organizations and first responders.
16)OA-HIPP Out of Pocket Costs. Requires the Office of AIDS
Health Insurance Premium Payment Program (OA-HIPP) to cover
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premiums, copays, coinsurance and deductibles for all eligible
people with HIV/AIDS; requires OA-HIPP to cover copays,
coinsurance and deductibles incurred by individuals accessing
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) with annual incomes below 500%
of the Federal Poverty Level.
17)Office of AIDS Cost Sharing. Eliminates copays and other
out-of-pocket costs in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP)
and other Office of AIDS programs.
18)Hepatitis Prevention. Requires DPH to perform various
functions related to hepatitis prevention, including:
purchasing and distributing hepatitis B vaccines for local
health jurisdictions; purchasing hepatitis C rapid test kits
to distribute to community-based testing programs; certifying
non-medical personnel to perform rapid hepatitis and HIV
testing in community-based settings; and engaging the Office
of AIDS to provide technical assistance to local governments
to increase the number of syringe exchange and disposal
programs in California.
19)Alzheimer's Early Detection. Requires California Alzheimer
Disease Centers to utilize state funds to determine the
standard of care for the early and accurate diagnosis of
Alzheimer's, provide professional outreach and education, and
to evaluate the educational effectiveness of these efforts.
20)Covered California Emergency Regulations. Extends the
emergency regulations authority for Covered California until
January 1, 2019, to implement the eligibility, enrollment and
appeals processes for the individual and small business
exchanges, changes to the small business exchange, or
legislation, that amends the Title that established the
California Health Benefit Exchange, that is enacted prior to
December 31, 2016.
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21)CalOHII. Makes technical and clarifying changes to the
California Office of Health Information Integrity's (CalOHII)
duties with regard to continued compliance with the federal
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA);
aligns and clarifies CalOHII's statutory role and
responsibilities to be consistent with ensuring that the
state's HIPAA policy remains consistent statewide and
conducting compliance reviews of state departments impacted by
HIPAA.
COMMENT: This bill is a budget trailer bill within the overall
2016-17 budget package to implement actions taken affecting the
Departments of Health Care Services and Public Health,
California Health Benefit Exchange, California Health Facilities
Financing Authority, Mental Health Services Oversight and
Accountability Commission and the California Office of Health
Information Integrity.
Analysis Prepared by:
Andrea Margolis / BUDGET / (916) 319-2099 FN:
0003422