BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           2699 (Bass)
          
          Hearing Date:  8/2/2010         Amended: 8/2/2010
          Consultant:  Bob Franzoia       Policy Vote: B&P 5-1
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: AB 2699 would exempt from state licensure and  
          regulation requirements health care practitioners who are  
          licensed or certified in other states who offers or provides  
          health care services through a sponsored event on a voluntary  
          basis (1) to uninsured or underinsured persons in California,  
          (2) on a short term temporary basis, (3) in association with a  
          sponsoring entity that registers with the applicable healing  
          arts board and provides information to the health department in  
          the county where the event is held, and (4) without charge to  
          the recipient or a third party on behalf of the recipient.    
          This bill would require an exempt health care provider to obtain  
          authorization to provide these services from the applicable  
          licensing board and require the applicable licensing board to  
          notify the sponsoring entity of the sponsored event whether the  
          licensing board approves or denies a request for authorization  
          to provide these services within 20 days of receipt of the  
          request.  The bill would also prohibit a contract of liability  
          insurance effective on January 1, 2011, from excluding coverage  
          of these practitioners or a sponsoring entity for providing care  
          under these provisions.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2010-11      2011-12       2012-13     Fund
           Intermittent, temporary           Unknown workload to process  
          requests               Various
          registration of out of state      for authorization; potentially  
          offset by fees         Special*
          health professionals                                    

          * Contingent Fund of the Medical Board of California, State  
          Dentistry Fund, State Dental Hygiene Fund, Optometry Fund, Board  
          of Registered Nursing Fund, Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric  
          Technician Fund, others 
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____











          STAFF COMMENTS: This bill may meet the criteria for referral to  
          the Suspense File.  
          
          One of the difficulties associated with the "authorization"  
          process proposed by this bill is the uncertainty surrounding the  
          degree of interest.  These boards have varying fund balances and  
          workloads and backlogs and all could incur significant costs  
          without some certainty that they will receive a sufficient  
          number of requests for authorization to offset initial and  
          potentially ongoing costs.  Preliminary information indicates  
          costs to some boards could be up to $200,000 and aggregate costs  
          to all funds could be much higher.  For purposes of  
          illustration, even if a board incurred minor costs of $20,000,  
          it may be unlikely that 200 health care practitioners in a  
          particular specialty from out-of-state will be willing to pay a  
          fee of $100 to participate in a sponsored event.  To prevent  
          stranding costs, it would be prudent to gain an accurate  
          assessment of need before these boards begin developing  
          individual authorization processes.