BILL ANALYSIS
SB 296
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
SB 296 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: August 17, 2009
Policy Committee: Health Vote:18-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires health plans and health insurers that provide
mental health services to issue patient identification cards by
July 1, 2011 and to increase the specificity and availability of
information provided on their websites. Specifically, this bill:
1)Specifies the contents of the identification card and
clarifies that this bill does not require the issuance of a
separate card if this information is available on the
enrollee's card for health coverage in general.
2)Requires specified information to be provided on health plan
and insurer websites on or before January 1, 2012, including
contact numbers, formulary information, approval,
modification, or denial processes, provider listings,
grievance policies, and independent medical review
information.
FISCAL EFFECT
Absorbable workload of less than $50,000 fee-supported special
fund costs to DMHC and CDI, combined, to continue oversight of
health plans and health insurers.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This bill is co-sponsored by the California
Psychiatric Association and the California Society for
Clinical Social Work to increase the availability of
information available to patients about mental health
services, including telephone contact information, network
access, and claims processing information. This bill adds to
SB 296
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earlier efforts by the author contained in SB 1553
(Lowenthal), Chapter 722, Statutes of 2008. SB 1553 requires
the web sites of health plans that provide coverage for
professional mental health services to include information for
subscribers, enrollees, and providers on accessing mental
health services.
2)Recent Amendments exempt Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)
from the requirements of the bill, clarify that mental health
carve-out plans are not required to issue an identification
card if the full-service health plan complies with the
requirements of this bill, and specify that a full-service
plan does not need to provide information on its website if it
provides a link to a mental health carve out plan that
provides the necessary information.
3)Mental Health Parity . Under current law, California has had
partial mental health parity for specified conditions since AB
88 (Thompson), Chapter 524, Statutes of 1999. AB 88 requires
treatment parity for "serious mental illness" (SMI) such as
schizophrenia, autism, and anorexia nervosa. Under current
law, less serious mental health issues are subject to
utilization controls such as annual caps on number of visits
and patient co-payments that exceed co-payments for other
medical treatment.
4)Related Legislation . AB 244 (Beall), pending in the Senate,
requires health plans and health insurers to provide coverage
for mental health and substance abuse treatment under the same
terms and conditions as other medical conditions, creating
parity between these and other health conditions.
Analysis Prepared by : Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081