BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
244 (Beall)
Hearing Date: 8/17/2009 Amended: 5/5/2009
Consultant: Katie Johnson Policy Vote: Health 6-3
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 244 would require health plans and insurers to
cover the diagnosis and medically necessary treatment of a
mental illness of a person of any age under the same terms and
conditions applied to other medical conditions.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Healthy Families Program $104 $104
$104General/* Federal
*HFP costs are shared 65 percent federal funds, 35 percent
General Funds
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STAFF COMMENTS:
Existing law provides for the regulation of health care service
plans and health insurers by the Department of Managed Health
Care (DMHC) and the California Department of Insurance (CDI),
respectively. Existing law establishes the Healthy Families
Program (HFP), California's version of the federal Children's
Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
This bill would require every health care service plan contract
and health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or
after January 1, 2010, that provides hospital, medical or
surgical coverage to provide coverage for the diagnosis and
medically necessary treatment of a mental illness of a person of
any age, including a child, under the same terms and conditions
applied to other medical conditions in its entire service area
and in emergency situations. This is what is commonly referred
to as mental health parity.
This bill would provide that a health plan or insurer may
provide coverage for all or part of the required mental health
services through a separate specialized health care service or
mental health plan. This bill would exempt Medi-Cal managed care
health plans, health plans or insurers contracted with the Board
of Administration of the California Public Employees' Retirement
System (CalPERS), and accident-only, specified disease, hospital
indemnity, Medicare supplement, dental-only, or vision-only
health plan contracts or insurance policies.
Costs to DMHC and CDI to oversee these new filings would be
minor and absorbable. A 2009 California Health Benefits Review
Program (CHBRP) report on this bill identified $104,000 in costs
to the Healthy Families Program (HFP). HFP benefits are
reimbursed 35 percent General Fund and 65 percent federal funds.
CHBRP anticipates no change in California's uninsured
population. AB 1887 (Beall) of 2008 and AB 423 (Beall) of 2007
were similar bills to this and were vetoed due to the costs of
health mandates.