BILL NUMBER: AB 916 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section 1216 of, and to add and repeal Chapter 6
(commencing with Section 127645) of Part 2 of Division 107 of, the
Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 916, as amended, V. Manuel Pérez. Health: underserved
communities.
Under existing law, the California Health and Human Services
Agency is required to establish an interdepartmental Task Force on
Rural Health to coordinate rural health policy development and
program operations and to develop a strategic plan for rural health.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to
ensure that counties address the needs of underserved communities by
maximizing the use of nonprofit health providers that are critical to
the health of farmworkers and other individuals, as specified. This
bill would establish the Task Force on the Health Care
Needs of Farmworkers, composed as prescribed, to develop a
comprehensive agenda of programs and public policy initiatives that
are designed to address the health care needs of farmworkers in
California, and provide a report containing specified information to
the office of the Governor and the State Department of Health Care
Services by December 31, 2013. This bill would provide that the task
force is to be funded by federal or private funds and that if, by
January 1, 2013, the office of the Governor determines that the task
force has insufficient funding to carry out its activities, the
activities of the task force shall cease. This bill would repeal
these provisions as of January 1, 2014.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under
which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services.
Existing law provides that federally qualified health center
services, as defined, are covered benefits under the Medi-Cal
program.
Existing law requires every clinic holding a license to file
annually with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development
a verified report showing prescribed information. Violation of these
provisions is a crime.
This bill would require all federally qualified health centers
operated by a county to file this report , except as specified,
commencing in the 2015 calendar year . By changing the
definition of a crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local
program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is this intent of the Legislature
to ensure that counties address the needs of underserved communities
by maximizing the use of nonprofit health providers that are
critical to the health of farmworkers and other individuals if county
governments are given greater authority and control to operate
specific health programs through realignment by requiring that the
realignment includes all of the following:
(a) Minority communities being served shall be consulted and
involved in developing service delivery models and infrastructure.
(b) Nonprofit community-based organizations providing health care,
social services, and mental health services shall be included in the
delivery of these services to impacted and targeted communities.
(c) No reduction in the current role and scope of nonprofit
organizations in the operation of health programs.
(d) Priority to establishing partnerships between county
government and nonprofit organizations to effectively deliver
coordinated services.
SEC. 2. SECTION 1. Section 1216 of
the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
1216. (a) Every clinic holding a license shall, on or before
the 15th day of February 15 of each
year, file with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development upon forms to be furnished by the office, a verified
report showing the following information relating to the previous
calendar year:
(1) Number of patients served and descriptive information,
including age, gender, race, and ethnic background of patients.
(2) Number of patient visits by type of service, including all of
the following:
(A) Child health and disability prevention screenings, treatment,
and followup services.
(B) Medical services.
(C) Dental services.
(D) Other health services.
(3) Total clinic operating expenses.
(4) Gross patient charges by payer category, including Medicare,
Medi-Cal, the Child Health Disability Prevention Program, county
indigent programs, other county programs, private insurance,
self-paying patients, nonpaying patients, and other payers.
(5) Deductions from revenue by payer category, bad debts, and
charity care charges.
(6) Additional information as may be required by the office or the
department.
(b) In the event a clinic fails to file a timely report, the
department may suspend the license of the clinic until the report is
completed and filed with the office.
(c) In order to promote efficient reporting of accurate data, the
office shall consider the unique operational characteristics of
different classifications of licensed clinics, including, but not
limited to, the limited scope of services provided by some specialty
clinics, in its design of forms for the collection of data required
by this section.
(d) For the purpose of administering funds appropriated from the
Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund for support of licensed
clinics, clinics receiving those funds may be required to report any
additional data the office or the department may determine necessary
to ensure the equitable distribution and appropriate expenditure of
those funds. This shall include, but not be limited to, information
about the poverty level of patients served and communicable diseases
reported to local health departments.
(e) This section shall apply to all primary care clinics.
(f) This section shall apply to all specialty clinics, as defined
in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1204 of the Health and
Safety Code that receive tobacco tax funds pursuant to Article 2
(commencing with Section 30121) of Chapter 2 of Part 13 of Division 2
of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(g) Specialty clinics that are not required to report pursuant to
subdivision (f) shall report data as directed in Section 1216 as it
existed prior to the enactment of Chapter 1331 of the Statutes of
1989 and Chapter 51 of the Statutes of 1990.
(h) Federally Commencing in the 2015
calendar year, federally qualified health centers, as described
in Section 1395x(aa)(4) or 1396d(l)(2)(B) of Title 42 of the United
States Code, operated by a county shall file the report described in
subdivision (a) , unless the health center is an exempt clinic
pursuant to subdivi sion (d) or (e) of Section 1206
.
SEC. 3. SEC. 2. Chapter 6
(commencing with Section 127645) is added to Part 2 of Division 107
of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 6. TASK FORCE ON THE HEALTH CARE NEEDS OF FARMWORKERS
127645. (a) The Task Force on the Health Care Needs of
Farmworkers is hereby established to develop a comprehensive agenda
of programs and public policy initiatives that are designed to
address the health care needs of farmworkers in California.
(b) The activities of the task force shall be funded by federal or
private funds. If, by January 1, 2013, the office of the Governor
determines that the task force has insufficient funding to carry out
its activities pursuant to this chapter, the activities of the task
force shall cease.
(c) The task force shall be composed of 11 members. The members of
the task force shall be farmworker representatives, representatives
from nonprofit community health centers with an established record of
serving farmworker communities, representatives from county
hospital owned or affiliated clinics, representatives of other county
health organizations, representatives of growers, and
representatives of philanthropic foundations. The members shall be
appointed as follows:
(1) The office of the Governor shall appoint five members.
(2) The Speaker of the Assembly and the President pro Tempore of
the Senate shall each appoint three members.
127646. The task force shall issue a report that shall be
provided to the State Department of Health Care Services and to the
Governor by December 31, 2013, that includes all of the following:
(a) Strategies to create public and private partnerships between
growers, federal, state, and local government entities, nonprofit
community health centers, and farmworker community representatives
for the purpose of coordinating respective resources to create new
initiatives to provide health insurance, or equivalent coverage, for
farmworkers who will not be covered by the federal Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148).
(b) A plan that coordinates county health care delivery systems to
integrate federally qualified health centers, as described in
Section 1395x(aa)(4) or 1396d(l)(2)(B) of Title 42 of the United
States Code, and coordinates to coordinate
the systems to target farmworkers.
(c) A plan to increase the number of culturally competent health
professionals in underserved rural areas.
(d) A plan to expand access to health care services via
telehealth care services to the extent that
these services are not otherwise locally available .
(e) A plan to coordinate a network of providers to ensure a
continuum of health care as farmworkers migrate within and outside of
the state.
(f) Long-term strategies for educating, training, and preparing
workers for other industries, including, but not limited to, green
technology.
(g) Viable strategies for enabling farmworkers to purchase
affordable housing.
127647. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2014, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2014, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 4. SEC. 3. No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred
by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this
act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or
infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the
definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII
B of the California Constitution.