BILL NUMBER: AB 1334 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 5, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Feuer
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Section 1366.5 to amend
Sections 22112, 22500.5, and 22504 of the Health and
Safety Vehicle Code, and to add Section
10112.58 to the Insurance Code, relating to
health care coverage schoolbus transportation .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1334, as amended, Feuer. Health care coverage.
Schoolbus transportation: schoolbus stops.
(1) Existing law requires the driver of a schoolbus to activate a
flashing amber light warning system on the approach to a schoolbus
stop where pupils are loading or unloading from the schoolbus and to
operate flashing red signal lights and a stop signal arm at all times
when the schoolbus is stopped for the purpose of loading or
unloading pupils. Existing law also requires a schoolbus driver to
load or unload pupils only at a schoolbus stop designated for pupils
by the school district superintendent or authorized by the
superintendent for school activity trips.
This bill would also authorize the director, head, or principal of
a private school to designate schoolbus stops for loading or
unloading pupils or for school activity trips.
Existing law prohibits a schoolbus driver from activating the
amber warning light system or the flashing red signal lights and stop
signal arm at a location determined by a school district, with the
approval of the Department of the California Highway Patrol, to
present a traffic or safety hazard.
This bill would also make this prohibition applicable to locations
determined by private schools to present a traffic or safety hazard.
(2) Existing law prohibits any person from stopping, parking, or
leaving a vehicle standing, among other places, on a crosswalk,
except for a bus engaged as a common carrier or a taxicab stopped for
the purpose of loading or unloading passengers, pursuant to a city
ordinance. Existing law authorizes a transit system and a school
district to enter into an agreement, by ordinance, for the loading or
unloading of passengers alongside curb spaces designated for the
loading or unloading of passengers of the transit system buses.
This bill would authorize a transit system to enter into an
agreement with a private school for the same purposes. The bill would
also prohibit a schoolbus stop at a location otherwise prohibited by
law, and other specified locations, without the approval of, and
authorization by, the Department of the California Highway Patrol.
(3) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school
district to designate a schoolbus stop at a place where there is not
a clear view of the stop from a distance of 200 feet in each
direction along a highway, if it is necessary for the safety of
pupils being transported to and from schools, and the stop is
authorized and approved by the Department of the California Highway
Patrol.
This bill would require, where there is not a clear view of a
schoolbus stop from a distance of 200 feet in each direction along a
highway, or where there is not a clear view of a schoolbus stop from
500 feet in each direction along the main portion of a highway and
the speed limit is more than 25 miles per hour, that the stop may
only be authorized annually by the Department of the California
Highway Patrol upon the request of a school district superintendent
or the director, head, or principal of a private school.
Existing law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act, on and after January 1, 2014, requires a health insurance issuer
offering health insurance coverage in the individual or group market
to accept every employer and individual in the state that applies
for that coverage, as specified, and requires issuers in the
individual and small group markets to ensure that the coverage
includes a specified essential benefits package. The act requires an
essential health benefits package to provide coverage in one of 5
levels based on actuarial value, as specified.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975,
provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service
plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful
violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the
regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance.
Existing law imposes various requirements with respect to
individual contracts and policies issued by health care service plans
and health insurers.
This bill would require plans and insurers to categorize all
products offered in the individual market into 5 tiers according to
actuarial value, as specified, and would require plans and insurers
to disclose this value and other information in certain disclosure
forms. These requirements would become operative 30 days after the
issuance of federal guidance on minimum essential benefits.
Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements with
respect to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would
impose 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 no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 22112 of the Vehicle
Code is amended to read:
22112. (a) On approach to a schoolbus stop where pupils are
loading or unloading from a schoolbus, the schoolbus driver shall
activate an approved amber warning light system, if the schoolbus is
so equipped, beginning 200 feet before the schoolbus stop. The
schoolbus driver shall deactivate the amber warning light system
after reaching the schoolbus stop. The schoolbus driver shall operate
the flashing red light signal system and stop signal arm, as
required on the schoolbus, at all times when the schoolbus is stopped
for the purpose of loading or unloading pupils. The flashing red
light signal system, amber warning lights system, and stop signal arm
shall not be operated at any place where traffic is controlled by a
traffic officer or at any location identified in subdivision (e) of
this section. The schoolbus flashing red light signal system, amber
warning lights system, and stop signal arm shall not be operated at
any other time.
(b) The schoolbus driver shall stop to load or unload pupils only
at a schoolbus stop designated for pupils by the school district
superintendent or the director, head, or principal of a private
school, or authorized by the superintendent
any of those individuals for school activity trips.
(c) When a schoolbus is stopped on a highway or private road for
the purpose of loading or unloading pupils, at a location where
traffic is not controlled by a traffic officer, the driver shall,
before opening the door, ensure that the flashing red light signal
system and stop signal arm are activated, and that it is safe to
enter or exit the schoolbus.
(d) When a schoolbus is stopped on a highway or private road for
the purpose of loading or unloading pupils, at a location where
traffic is not controlled by a traffic officer or official traffic
control signal, the schoolbus driver shall do all of the following:
(1) Escort all pupils in prekindergarten, kindergarten, or any of
grades 1 to 8, inclusive, who need to cross the highway or private
road upon which the schoolbus is stopped. The driver shall use an
approved hand-held "STOP" sign while escorting all pupils.
(2) Require all pupils who need to cross the highway or private
road upon which the schoolbus is stopped to walk in front of the bus
as they cross.
(3) Ensure that all pupils who need to cross the highway or
private road upon which the schoolbus is stopped have crossed safely,
and that all other pupils and pedestrians are a safe distance from
the schoolbus before setting the schoolbus in motion.
(e) Except at a location where pupils are loading or unloading
from a schoolbus and must cross a highway or private road upon which
the schoolbus is stopped, the schoolbus driver may not activate the
amber warning light system, the flashing red light signal system and
stop signal arm at any of the following locations:
(1) Schoolbus loading zones on or adjacent to school grounds or
during an activity trip, if the schoolbus is lawfully stopped or
parked.
(2) Where the schoolbus is disabled due to mechanical breakdown.
The driver of a relief bus that arrives at the scene to transport
pupils from the disabled schoolbus shall not activate the amber
warning light system, the flashing red light system, and stop signal
arm.
(3) Where a pupil requires physical assistance from the driver or
authorized attendant to board or leave the schoolbus and providing
the assistance extends the length of time the schoolbus is stopped
beyond the time required to load or unload a pupil that does not
require physical assistance.
(4) Where the roadway surface on which the bus is stopped is
partially or completely covered by snow or ice and requiring traffic
to stop would pose a safety hazard as determined by the schoolbus
motor carrier.
(5) On a state highway with a posted speed limit of 55 miles per
hour or higher where the schoolbus is completely off the main
traveled portion of the highway.
(6) Any location determined by a school district or a private
school , with the approval of the Department of the California
Highway Patrol, to present a traffic or safety hazard.
(f) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, the
Department of the California Highway Patrol may require the
activation of an approved flashing amber warning light system, if the
schoolbus is so equipped, or the flashing red light signal system
and stop signal arm, as required on the schoolbus, at any location
where the department determines that the activation is necessary for
the safety of school pupils loading or unloading from a schoolbus.
SEC. 2. Section 22500.5 of the Vehicle
Code is amended to read:
22500.5. Upon agreement between a transit system operating buses
engaged as common carriers in local transportation and a public
school district or private school , local authorities may,
by ordinance, permit schoolbuses owned by, or operated under contract
for, that public school district or private school to
stop for the loading or unloading of passengers alongside any or all
curb spaces designated for the loading or unloading of passengers of
the transit system buses. A schoolbus stop, permitted pursuant
to this section, shall be designated by a school district
superintendent or principal, head, or director of a private school
and is subject to Section 22112 and subdivision (c) of Section 22504.
A permitted schoolbus stop shall not be designated at a location
otherwise prohibited by law, or at a location as specified in
subdivision (c) of Section 22504 without the approval of, and
authorization by, the Department of the California Highway Patrol.
SEC. 3. Section 22504 of the Vehicle
Code is amended to read:
22504. (a) Upon any highway in unincorporated areas no person
shall stop, park, or leave standing any vehicle, whether attended or
unattended, upon the roadway when it is practicable to stop, park, or
leave the vehicle off such portion of the highway, but in every
event an unobstructed width of the highway opposite a standing
vehicle shall be left for the free passage of other vehicles and a
clear view of the stopped vehicle shall be available from a distance
of 200 feet in each direction upon the highway. This section shall
not apply upon a highway where the roadway is bounded by adjacent
curbs.
(b) This section shall not apply to the driver of any vehicle
which is disabled in such a manner and to such extent that it is
impossible to avoid stopping and temporarily leaving the disabled
vehicle on the roadway.
(c) When, in the judgment of the governing board of a
school district, it is necessary for the safety of pupils being
transported to and from schools to authorize a schoolbus stop at a
place where there is not a clear view of the stop from a distance of
200 feet in each direction along the highway, such
Where there is not a clear view of a proposed or existing schoolbus
stop from a distance of 200 feet in each direction along a highway,
or upon the main traveled portion of a highway where there is not a
clear view of the stop from 500 feet in each direction along the
highway and the speed limit is more than 25 miles per hour, the
stop may only be authorized on an annual basis
by , and with the approval of , the
Department of the California Highway Patrol upon the
request of the school district superintendent or the director, head,
or principal of a private school . The
If the schoolbus stop is approved by the Department of the
California Highway Patrol, the Department of Transportation,
in respect to state highways, and local authorities, in respect to
highways under their jurisdiction, shall place sufficient signs along
the highway to give adequate notice to motorists that they are
approaching such bus stops.
SECTION 1. Section 1366.5 is added to the
Health and Safety Code, to read:
1366.5. (a) From July 1, 2012, to December 31, 2013, inclusive,
for each product offered or renewed in the individual market, a
health care service plan shall disclose whether or not it offers
minimum essential benefits, as defined in the federal Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) and whether
or not it offers an actuarial value of at least 70 percent.
(b) On and after January 1, 2014, a health care service plan
shall categorize each product offered or renewed in the individual
market on the basis of actuarial value into one of the following
tiers:
(1) Bronze level for products with an actuarial value equal to 60
percent.
(2) Silver level for products with an actuarial value equal to 70
percent.
(3) Gold level for products with an actuarial value equal to 80
percent.
(4) Platinum level for products with an actuarial value equal to
90 percent.
(5) Catastrophic coverage for products with an actuarial value
less than 60 percent.
(c) In categorizing the actuarial value of products for purposes
of subdivision (c), a health care service plan may have a de minimis
variation from the actuarial values set forth in that subdivision.
(d) On and after January 1, 2014, an actuarial value shall be
calculated using the method contained in subdivision (d) of Section
1302 of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and
the regulations adopted thereunder.
(e) A plan shall use a qualified actuary to certify the accuracy
of its calculations under this section.
(f) (1) The department may review the categorization of any
product under this section for accuracy, including, but not limited
to, the methodology used by the plan to establish an actuarial value.
(2) The department may require the submission of any information
needed to categorize products pursuant to this section.
(g) As part of the disclosure form required by Section 1363 for an
individual plan contract, a health care service plan shall include
the actuarial value of the particular product reflected in the
contract, as determined under this section, along with an explanation
of the actuarial value in easily understood language expressed as a
percentage of expenses paid by the plan versus out of pocket. In
addition, the disclosure shall include an estimate of the annual
out-of-pocket expenses of an individual in average health who is
enrolled in the product, and the total annual cost (the sum of the
premium plus out-of-pocket costs) of an individual of average health
who is enrolled in the product. The disclosure shall also state that
an individual's share of cost may be more or less depending on his or
her age, illness, or health condition. The disclosure shall also
include the following statement:
"Please examine the other features of this product carefully,
including prescription drug coverage, exclusion of specific
conditions, and other costs such as copayments and deductibles."
(h) This section shall not apply to Medicare supplement contracts
or to specialized health care service plan contracts.
(i) For purposes of this section, "qualified actuary" means an
actuary who is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, who is
qualified to perform such work, and who meets the Qualification
Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion in
the United States as promulgated by the American Academy of
Actuaries.
(j) This section shall become operative 30 days after initial
federal guidance on minimum essential benefits is issued.
SEC. 2. Section 10112.58 is added to the
Insurance Code, to read:
10112.58. (a) From July 1, 2012, to December 31, 2013, inclusive,
for each product offered or renewed in the individual market, a
health insurer shall disclose whether or not it offers minimum
essential benefits, as defined in the federal Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) and whether or not it offers
an actuarial value of at least 70 percent.
(b) On and after January 1, 2014, a health insurer shall
categorize each product offered or renewed in the individual market
on the basis of actuarial value into one of the following tiers:
(1) Bronze level for products with an actuarial value equal to 60
percent.
(2) Silver level for products with an actuarial value equal to 70
percent.
(3) Gold level for products with an actuarial value equal to 80
percent.
(4) Platinum level for products with an actuarial value equal to
90 percent.
(5) Catastrophic coverage for products with an actuarial value
less than 60 percent.
(c) In categorizing the actuarial value of products for purposes
of subdivision (c), a health insurer may have a de minimis variation
from the actuarial values set forth in that subdivision.
(d) On and after January 1, 2014, an actuarial value shall be
calculated using the method contained in subdivision (d) of Section
1302 of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and
the regulations adopted thereunder.
(e) An insurer shall use a qualified actuary to certify the
accuracy of its calculations under this section.
(f) (1) The department may review the categorization of any
product under this section for accuracy, including, but not limited
to, the methodology used by the insurer to establish an actuarial
value.
(2) The department may require the submission of any information
needed to categorize products pursuant to this section.
(g) As part of the disclosure form required by Section 10603 for
an individual health insurance policy, a health insurer shall include
the actuarial value of the particular product reflected in the
policy, as determined under this section, along with an explanation
of the actuarial value in easily understood language expressed as a
percentage of expenses paid by insurance versus out of pocket. In
addition, the disclosure shall include an estimate of the annual
out-of-pocket expenses of an individual in average health who is
enrolled in the product, and the total annual cost (the sum of the
premium plus out-of-pocket costs) of an individual of average health
who is enrolled in the product. The disclosure shall also state that
an individual's share of cost may be more or less depending on his or
her age, illness, or health condition. The disclosure shall also
include the following statement:
"Please examine the other features of this product carefully,
including prescription drug coverage, exclusion of specific
conditions, and other costs such as copayments and deductibles."
(h) This section shall not apply to Medicare supplement,
CHAMPUS-supplement, specified disease, TRICARE supplement, or
accident-only insurance policies, to specialized health insurance
policies, or to insurance policies excluded from the definition of
"health insurance" under subdivision (b) of Section 106.
(i) For purposes of this section, "qualified actuary" means an
actuary who is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, who is
qualified to perform such work, and who meets the Qualification
Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion in
the United States as promulgated by the American Academy of
Actuaries.
(j) This section shall become operative 30 days after initial
federal guidance on minimum essential benefits is issued.
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.