BILL ANALYSIS
SB 896
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 20, 2006
Counsel: Heather Hopkins
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mark Leno, Chair
SB 896 (Runner) - As Amended: May 18, 2006
As Proposed to be Amended in Committee
SUMMARY : Clarifies that public agencies, as well as local
sheriffs and police chiefs, can contract with hospitals for
emergency health care for inmates.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law,
except in counties in which the sheriff, as of July 1, 1993,
is not in charge of and the sole and exclusive authority to
keep the county jail and the prisoners in it, the sheriff
shall take charge of and be the sole and exclusive authority
to keep the county jail and the prisoners in it, except for
work furlough facilities where by county ordinance the work
furlough administrator is a person other than the sheriff.
(Government Code Sections 24000 and 26600 et seq.)
2)Provides that the board of supervisors of any county may, by
resolution, establish a department of corrections, to be
headed by an officer appointed by the board, which shall have
jurisdiction over all county functions, personnel, and
facilities, or so many as the board names in its resolution,
relating to institutional punishment, care, treatment, and
rehabilitation of prisoners including, but not limited to, the
county jail and industrial farms and road camps, their
functions and personnel. (Government Code Section 23013.)
3)Provides that the police department of a city which creates
one is under the control of the chief of police. (Government
Code Section 38630.)
4)States legislative intent that the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) operate in the most
cost-effective and efficient manner possible when purchasing
health care services for inmates; to achieve this goal, it is
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desirable that the CDCR have the benefit and experience of the
California Medical Assistance Commission (CMAC) in planning
and negotiating for the purchase of health care services.
[Penal Code Section 5023(a).]
5)Provides that the CDCR shall consult with the CMAC to assist
the CDCR in planning and negotiating contracts for the
purchase of health care services, the CMAC shall advise the
CDCR, and the CMAC may negotiate directly with providers on
behalf of the CDCR as mutually agreed upon by CMAC and the
CDCR. [Penal Code Section 5024(b).]
6)Provides that in no event shall the provision of emergency
services and care be based upon, or affected by, the person's
race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, citizenship, age,
sex, preexisting medical condition, physical or mental
handicap, insurance status, economic status, or ability to pay
for medical services, except to the extent that a circumstance
such as age, sex, preexisting medical condition, or physical
or mental handicap is medically significant to the provision
of appropriate medical care to the patient. [Health and
Safety Code Section 1317(a) and (b).]
7)Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
CDCR and the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) may contract
with providers of emergency health care services. Hospitals
that do not contract with the CDCR or the DJJ for emergency
health care services shall provide these services to these
departments on the same basis as they are required to provide
these services pursuant to Section 489.24 of Title 42 of the
Code of Federal Regulations. Neither the CDCR nor the DJJ
shall reimburse a hospital that provides these services, and
that the departments have not contracted with, at a rate that
exceeds the hospital's reasonable and allowable costs,
regardless of whether the hospital is located within or
outside of California. [Penal Code Section 5023.5(a).]
8)An entity that provides ambulance or any other emergency or
nonemergency response service to the CDCR and the DJJ, and
that does not contract with the departments for that service,
shall be reimbursed for the service at the rate established by
Medicare. Neither the CDCR nor the DJJ shall reimburse a
provider of any of these services that the departments have
not contracted with at a rate that exceeds the provider's
reasonable and allowable costs, regardless of whether the
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provider is located within or outside of California. [Penal
Code Section 5023.5(b).]
9)Provides that CDCR and the DJJ shall work with the Department
of Health Services (DHS) in obtaining hospital cost
information in order to establish the costs specified in this
section. DHS may provide the CDCR and the DJJ with the
hospital cost information that DHS obtains pursuant to Welfare
and Institutions Code Sections 14170 and 14171. [Penal Code
Section 5023.5(c).]
10) Provides that "reasonable and allowable costs," for
purposes of Penal Code Section 5023.5, shall be defined in
accordance with Part 413 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal
Regulations and federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services Publication Numbers 15.1 and 15.2. [Penal Code
Section 5023.5(d).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "This bill is a
technical, clean-up measure to SB 159 (Runner), Chapter 481,
Statues of 2005, that dealt with emergency health care for
local law enforcement patients. This bill will clarify that
public agencies, such as county public health departments, can
enter into contracts with hospitals for emergency health
care."
2)Bill Makes Technical Changes to SB 159 : SB 159 established a
rate structure for emergency health care for local law
enforcement patients, absent an existing contract between
local law enforcement and health care providers. SB 159 also
created a working group consisting of local law enforcement
and health care providers to consider a variety of issues
related to inmate health care. This bill provides merely
technical changes to SB 159 clarifying that the provisions
also apply to public agencies that contract for emergency
health services and provides that to the extend that the rate
provisions result in a disproportionate share of local law
enforcement patients being treated at any one hospital or
system of hospitals, the working group shall address it.
These changes do not substantively change the scope or effect
of SB 159; rather this bill clarifies SB 159's provisions.
SB 896
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Heather Hopkins / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744