BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                 AB 1932
                                                                 Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 19, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   AB 1932 (Hernandez) - As Amended:  May 3, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              HealthVote:15-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill authorizes the California Department of Health Care  
          Services (DHCS) to use specified service levels in the  
          reimbursement of emergency medical transportation services for  
          the Medi-Cal program. Specifically, this bill authorizes DHCS to  
          use the following service levels: 

          1)Advanced Life Support, Nonemergency Transport 

          2)Advanced Life Support, Emergency Transport, Level 1 

          3)Basic Life Support, Nonemergency Transport

          4)Basic Life Support, Emergency Transport

          5)Advanced Life Support, Level 2

          6)Specialty Care Transport

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Absorbable costs to the Medi-Cal program. This bill codifies a  
          process currently underway to adopt the use of these six levels  
          of emergency medical transport, per recent requirements of  
          federal law. This bill does not modify reimbursement for  
          emergency medical transport. Under current law, Medi-Cal Basic  
          Life Support nonemergency transportation is reimbursed at $107  
          and Basic Life Support emergency transportation is reimbursed at  
          $118 per trip. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . This bill is sponsored by the California Ambulance  
            Association (CAA) to codify federal terminology related to  
            emergency medical transportation for Medi-Cal beneficiaries.  





                                                                 AB 1932
                                                                 Page  2

            The effort to adopt this terminology is already underway in  
            the Medi-Cal program.  

           2)Related Legislation  . AB 511 (De La Torre), pending in the  
            Senate, would impose a 5.5% quality assurance fee (QAF) on  
            ambulance transportation services providers through June 30,  
            2016, for purposes of increasing reimbursement rates paid by  
            Medi-Cal for services rendered to Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

           

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081