BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1540 (Jones)
Hearing Date: 8/24/2009 Amended: 8/17/2009
Consultant: Katie Johnson Policy Vote: EQ 6-0 Health 10-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 1540 would make various changes related to
health care service plans, public health, and Medi-Cal.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
DMHC regulations $85 $85 $0 Special*
CHBRP sunset extension up to$2,000 up to $2,000up
to $2,000 Special**
(fully offset by specified health care
service plan and health insurer
assessments)
LEA Medi-Cal Recovery up to $1,500 up to $1,500 up to
$1,500 Federal***
Fund sunset extension (fully offset by LEA Federal Medicaid
funds)
*Managed Care Fund
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STAFF COMMENTS:
This bill would provide that the California Health Benefits
Review Program (CHBRP) exists for fiscal years 2010-2011 to
2014-2015 and would request that the University of California
submit a report on CHBRP to the Governor and the Legislature by
January 1, 2014. CHBRP's budget is approximately $2 million,
funded completely by assessments on health care service plans
and health insurers.
This bill would permit the director of the Department of Managed
Health Care (DMHC) to modify the wording of any notice required
by the Knox-Keene Health Service Plan Act of 1975 by regulation,
provided the change does not alter the substantive meaning of
the notice. DMHC would need $170,000 over the first year of
implementation to promulgate regulations to implement its
portion of this bill.
This bill would require the California Department of Public
Health (CDPH) regulations to include requirements governing the
use of point-of-use treatment by public water systems where it
can be demonstrated that centralized water treatment is not
immediately economically feasible, as specified by the
following:
1) water systems with less than 200 service connections;
2) usage allowed under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act
and its related regulations;
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AB 1540 (Jones)
3) water systems that have submitted preapplications with
CDPH for funding to correct the violations for which the
point-of-use treatment is provided.
This bill would prohibit CDPH from issuing a permit to a public
water system or amend a valid permit to allow the use of
point-of-use water treatment unless the department determines,
after conducting a public hearing in the community served by the
public water system, that there is no substantial community
opposition to the installation of point-of-use treatment
devices.
This bill would require CDPH to make a reasonable effort to
ensure that in the case where a public water system sends
notification to system users, that notification is given to all
users, as specified.
Any costs to CDPH to implement these drinking water policy
changes would be minor and absorbable.
This bill would eliminate the sunset on the part of CDPH's
tuberculosis control program that permits a city or county
health department to provide for the one-year certification of
tuberculin skin test technicians by local health officers. This
would not constitute a state-mandated local program since cities
and counties have the option to participate in the program.
Costs to CDPH to continue to administer the program would be
minor and absorbable.
This bill would provide that patient medical record numbers and
any other data elements that the Office of Statewide Health
Planning and Development (OSHPD) believes could be used to
identify a patient would be exempt from the disclosure
requirements of the California Public Records Act. Any costs to
OSHPD would be minor and absorbable.
This bill would extend the sunset on the Local Educational
Agency (LEA) Medi-Cal Recovery Fund until January 1, 2013, whose
balance may not exceed $1.5 million annually and is used to
provide resources to the Department of Health Care Services
(DHCS), the state department that administers the Medi-Cal
program, to ensure that schools are reimbursed for all services
that they provide that are eligible for federal financial
participation. The monies in this fund consist of local
education agencies' federal Medicaid funds. This would ensure
continued funding for DHCS activities in this area.
This bill contains chaptering out amendments with SB 359, AB
737, and AB 839.