BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 174
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 174 (Monning)
As Amended August 24, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 19, 2011) |SENATE: |25-8 |(August 29, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY : Establishes the California Health and Human Services
Automation Fund (Fund), in the State Treasury, to consist of
moneys appropriated to various specified health and human
services information technology (IT) projects, and requires the
moneys in the Fund to be available upon appropriation by the
Legislature for expenditure by the Office of Systems Integration
(OSI).
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill
and instead:
1)Establish the Fund and specify the sources of funding that
should be transferred to and appropriated from the fund.
2)Permit the Employment Development Department (EDD) and the
Franchise Tax Board (FTB) to share information and develop
data interfaces with the California Health Benefit Exchange
(Exchange) for purposes of enabling the Exchange to make
eligibility determinations and comply with certain federal
requirements.
3)Clarify that nothing in this bill overrides any existing state
or federal laws governing patient privacy or information
security.
4)Make other technical and conforming changes to address
chaptering conflicts.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required the system of
electronic health records developed through health information
exchange demonstration projects permitted under existing law to
be implemented with the full participation of health consumers
and organizations concerned with protecting the privacy and
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security of patient information in the development of policies.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor costs to administer the Fund.
2)Annual costs of about $20,000 to the EDD to provide required
information to the Exchange (California Health Trust Fund).
3)Annual costs of about $20,000 to the FTB to provide required
information to the Exchange, based on projected costs to the
EDD for similar activities (California Health Trust Fund).
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill is needed to
formally re-establish the inadvertently abolished OSI Fund
within the Health and Human Services Agency and rename it as the
California Health and Human Services Automation Fund. This bill
reinstates statutory authority for the Fund in order to prevent
future challenges to payments from the Fund. The author states
that the OSI manages various major health and human services IT
projects that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars and this
bill is intended to ensure that the OSI has the statutory
authority it needs to fulfill its duties.
In addition, the author notes that, currently, no mechanism
exists to allow the EDD and the FTB to share information with
the Exchange. According to the author, this bill will
facilitate allowing the Exchange to have access to this
information in order to comply with eligibility determinations
and other requirements of federal health care reform.
This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the
Assembly-approved version of this bill was deleted. This bill,
as amended in the Senate, is inconsistent with Assembly actions
and the provisions of this bill, as amended in the Senate, have
not been heard in an Assembly policy committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Cassie Royce / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
FN: 0005682
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