BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2668
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Date of Hearing: May 5, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2668 (Galgiani) - As Amended: April 8, 2010
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires CDCR, to the extent lease-revenue bonds funds
are available from AB 900 (Solorio, 2007), to install
telemedicine infrastructure at "the Medical Facility."
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Assuming AB 900 financing is authorized for this purpose
(which is the intent of the author's AB 2222, also before the
committee today) and depending on the scope of the project(s),
costs could range into the millions of dollars (lease-revenue
bonds/GF), assuming the author intends this bill to apply only
to the proposed Consolidated Care Center in Stockton.
2)Depending on the extent to which telemedicine proves a more
cost-efficient method of providing inmate health care in
appropriate cases, the investment in telemedicine will result
in significant out-year GF health care savings that should
exceed the cost of the attendant telemedicine infrastructure.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author notes the importance of telemedicine in
ongoing state and federal efforts to provide affordable and
constitutionally acceptable inmate health care and contends
that the cost of building the infrastructure necessary to
provide such care should be covered under the existing AB 900
lease-revenue bond authority.
2)Telemedicine a crucial component of CDCR/federal health care
receiver health care efforts . According to the receiver's
AB 2668
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April 2010 Cost Containment Report, telemedicine leads to
significant cost avoidance in the areas of contract medical
and medical custody transportation costs. Telemedicine is also
a significant component of the receiver's efforts to identify
$800 million in proposed health care savings in the 2010-11
state budget. According to the report:
3)NuPhysicia also recommends significantly increased
telemedicine investment to address prison health care
shortcomings . In March 2010, NuPhysicia, a private company
involved in the telemedicine programs of The University of
Texas Medical Branch, released a report - "Assessment and
Evaluation: California's Opportunities for Improved Inmate
Health Care Quality and Cost Controls" - that criticized
CDCR's underreliance on telemedicine and encouraged the state
to integrate telemedicine into daily care.
4)The need for the bill is not clear , as CDCR and the receiver
intend to install telemedicine infrastructure at the
Consolidated Care Center.
5)Telemedicine is the provision of interactive healthcare via
telecommunication technology. Telemedicine allows patients to
visit with physicians live over video for immediate care, or
via recorded video/still images, patient data is stored and
sent to physicians for diagnosis and follow-up treatment at a
later time.
6)Related Legislation.
a) AB 2222 (Galgiani) authorizes CDCR to install
telemedicine fixtures and broadband infrastructure in new
or existing buildings authorized pursuant to phase II of AB
900 (Solorio, 2007) CDCR Secretary.
b) AB 1785 (Galgiani) Requires CDCR to maintain a statewide
telemedicine services program, requires an operational
telemedicine program at each institution, and expands
existing telemedicine services. AB will be heard by this
committee later in the month.
AB 2668
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Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081