BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2541
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Date of Hearing: May 12, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2541 (Portantino) - As Amended: April 28, 2010
Policy Committee: Health Vote:18-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill deletes the HIV exemption from authorized electronic
reporting in order to increase federal funding provided to
California for HIV and AIDS services. Under current law more
than 80 reportable diseases (such as tuberculosis and hepatitis)
may be reported electronically by providers and labs to local
health jurisdictions. HIV is currently exempt from that
authorization.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)According to a recent report by the Legislative Analyst's
Office (LAO) on HIV surveillance and federal funding,
California could increase receipt of federal Ryan White Act
funding by several million to low tens of millions of dollars
annually by increasing the number of HIV infections reported.
2)Increased federal funds would be used to reduce GF spending.
The Ryan White Act provides $125 million in federal funding
per year to California. California spends roughly $1.2 billion
a year (40% GF) on medical treatment and HIV/AIDS programs.
3)According to the LAO, only about 36,000 cases of HIV have been
reported by name (a federal funding requirement) to local
health jurisdictions. This number likely represents only
one-third to one-half of HIV cases statewide.
4)Unknown costs to DPH to modify an effort already underway to
develop a web-based electronic laboratory reporting (ELR)
system.
COMMENTS
AB 2541
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1)Rationale . This bill is sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare
Foundation to improve California's HIV surveillance and to
ensure the state's competitiveness for federal Ryan White Care
Act funding. This bill is in response to a February 2010
report by the LAO about the underreporting of HIV infections
and actions needed to improve disease surveillance to increase
federal funding in this area.
2)Background . Under state law, more than 80 diseases are
reported by providers and labs to local public health
jurisdictions. The data collected helps state and local health
authorities plan for the prevention and control of these
diseases. Laboratories use a variety of methods to report
diseases, including phone, fax, or secure electronic delivery.
Historically, HIV has been treated differently than other
diseases. Under current law HIV cannot be reported
electronically and must be reporting using methods such as
hand delivery or registered mail. This handling of HIV
reporting is administratively burdensome and does not maximize
data matching opportunities to increase the identification of
HIV-positive patients.
3)Name-Based Reporting . Although HIV has been identified since
1983, California first required labs and providers to report
HIV cases to local health authorities in 2002 by a code,
rather than a patient's name. California switched to
name-based reporting in 2006 in order to not risk major losses
of federal Ryan White Act funding. The state has been in a
transition period between code-based reporting and full
name-based reporting. According to DPH estimates, California's
failure to be fully name-based in HIV reporting, meant the
lost of $3 million to $7 million in federal funding in 2009.
4)Related Legislation . SB 699 (Soto) Chapter 20, Statutes of
2006, requires health care providers and laboratories to
report HIV cases by the patient's name rather than code in
order to comply with federal funding requirements.
Analysis Prepared by : Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081