BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2248
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Date of Hearing: April 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2248 (Hernandez) - As Introduced: February 18, 2010
Policy Committee: Health Vote:19-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill expands annual reporting requirements regarding
expenditures from county emergency medical services Maddy Funds.
Specifically, this bill requires annual reporting to include a
description of expenditures for purposes other than emergency
medical services.
FISCAL EFFECT
No direct fiscal impact to counties or state agencies for the
expansion of reporting established by this bill. Under current
law, 50 counties have established Maddy Funds. Counties finance
these funds through several revenue sources, including penalty
assessments on certain criminal and traffic violations and fees
on individuals attending traffic school. Existing law authorizes
counties to levy an additional penalty assessment until January
1, 2014.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This bill is co-sponsored by the California Chapter
of the American College of Emergency Physicians (Cal-ACEP) and
the California Medical Association (CMA). This bill increases
the specificity of information contained in reports about
emergency medical services funding. The authors and sponsors
are concerned about a lack of accountability for expenditures
in certain counties and want to ensure Maddy Funds are used
for their statutory purpose.
2)Background . Current law authorizes each county to establish a
Maddy Fund. Maddy Funds were established by SB 12 (Maddy),
Chapter 1240, Statutes of 1987. In 2010, fifty counties have
AB 2248
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Maddy Funds. Each county Maddy Fund is required to reimburse
physicians and hospitals for indigent patient care in the
following categories for administration; physicians who
provide emergency medical services and are not employed in
county hospitals; hospitals that provide a larger share of a
county's trauma and emergency care services; and discretionary
emergency medical services, as determined by a county.
3)Related Legislation
a) AB 1475 (Solorio) Chapter 537, Statutes of 2009 limits
the reimbursement for administering county Maddy Funds to
actual administrative costs or 10%, whichever is lower,
including additional penalty assessment funds authorized
until January 2014.
b) SB 1773 (Alarcon) Chapter 841, Statutes of 2006,
authorized county boards of supervisors to levy additional
penalties on criminal offenses for emergency medical
services until January 1, 2009.
c) SB 1236 (Padilla), Chapter 60, Statutes of 2008 extends
the sunset date of SB 1773 (Alarcon) Chapter 841, Statutes
of 2006 from January 1, 2009 to January 1, 2014.
Analysis Prepared by : Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081