BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 972 (Butler and Beall)
Hearing Date: 8/15/2011 Amended: 8/15/2011
Consultant: Katie Johnson Policy Vote: Health 7-1
_________________________________________________________________
____
BILL SUMMARY: AB 972 would permit 24-hour residential treatment
facilities that provide services to adults recovering from
alcohol and drug abuse that are licensed by the Department of
Alcohol and Drug Programs (DADP) to provide medical services and
would provide that such a facility would not require a health
facility license.
_________________________________________________________________
____
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
DADP adoption of at least $100 at least
$100 $0 General
emergency regulations
DADP ongoing oversight up to $150 up to $300 up to
$300 Special*
*Residential and Outpatient Program Licensing Fund
_________________________________________________________________
____
STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Until January 1, 2017, this bill would permit 24-hour
residential treatment facilities that provide services to adults
recovering from alcohol and drug abuse that are licensed by the
Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (DADP) to provide
specified medical services and would provide that such a
facility would not require a health facility license.
The addition of medical services to the services provided by
residential treatment facilities would increase the time DADP
could expect to spend conducting its biennial facility site
reviews. DADP would need up to two and a half permanent staff at
an annual cost of up to $300,000 to accommodate the increased
AB 972 (Butler)
Page 1
site inspection time. Currently, site reviews are conducted
biennially. Actual staffing costs would depend on the number of
licensed facilities that would choose to offer medical services.
There are 824 facilities licensed. For example, if only 10
percent of licensed facilities chose to offer medical services,
DADP would need to augment its site reviews for 41 facilities
commencing in FY 2011-2012.
The August 15 amendments would delete provisions in this bill
that would have provided for a per bed fee based on, and not to
exceed, the patient slot fee for a narcotic treatment program
($31) and would instead:
1) Require the department to impose a licensure and
certification fee on a facility that chooses to provide
limited medical services and that, for the first year of
implementation, would prohibit the fee from being set at
more than $50 per client based on the number of clients the
facility served that year.
2) Permit DADP to implement these provisions by
all-facility letters or similar instructions, but would
require DADP to adopt emergency regulations implementing
this bill on or before December 31, 2012.
3) Require that, in promulgating emergency regulations, the
department would adopt the specific accreditation standards
established by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of
Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the Commission on
Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and any
additional accrediting organizations that DADP may choose
to rely upon. DADP would be permitted to readopt the
emergency regulations once.
DADP would likely need at least $100,000 in FY 2011-12 and in FY
2012-13 in General Fund in order to develop the all-facility
letters and to adopt the emergency regulations. It is unknown
whether or not DADP would choose to promulgate permanent
regulations. It is unclear after the readoption of the emergency
regulations expires under what authority DADP would have to
license, certify, and inspect the facilities providing medical
services through this bill's January 1, 2017, sunset date, if
the department were to choose to not adopt permanent
regulations.
To the extent that the $50 per client fee does not cover the
AB 972 (Butler)
Page 2
costs of DADP's inspections in the first year of implementation,
there would be General Fund cost pressure to fund the remainder.
Additionally, staff recommends that this bill be amended to
require DADP to set a licensure fee that would be sufficient to
cover the costs of administering the program.