BILL NUMBER: AB 2522	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Williams

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Section 1204 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to health and care facilities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2522, as introduced, Williams. Health and care facilities:
primary care and specialty clinics.
   Existing law, with certain exceptions, provides for the licensure
and regulation of health facilities and clinics, including primary
care and specialty clinics, by the State Department of Public Health.
Existing law requires primary care and specialty clinics to meet
certain criteria in order to be eligible for licensure.
   This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those
provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 1204 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   1204.  Clinics eligible for licensure pursuant to this chapter are
primary care clinics and specialty clinics.
   (a)  (1)  Only the following defined classes of primary care
clinics shall be eligible for licensure:
   (A)  A "community clinic" means a clinic operated by a tax-exempt
nonprofit corporation that is supported and maintained in whole or in
part by donations, bequests, gifts, grants, government funds or
contributions, that may be in the form of money, goods, or services.
In a community clinic,  any charges   a charge
 to the patient shall be based on the patient's ability to pay,
utilizing a sliding fee scale. No   A 
corporation other than a nonprofit corporation, exempt from federal
income taxation under paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 501
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended, or a statutory
successor thereof, shall  not  operate a community clinic;
provided, that the licensee of any community clinic so licensed on
the effective date of this section shall not be required to obtain
tax-exempt status under either federal or state law in order to be
eligible for, or as a condition of, renewal of its license. 
No   A  natural person or persons 
shall  not  operate a community clinic.
   (B)  A "free clinic" means a clinic operated by a tax-exempt,
nonprofit corporation supported in whole or in part by voluntary
donations, bequests, gifts, grants, government funds or
contributions, that may be in the form of money, goods, or services.
In a free clinic there shall be no charges directly to the patient
for services rendered or for drugs, medicines, appliances, or
apparatuses furnished.  No   A  corporation
other than a nonprofit corporation exempt from federal income
taxation under paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 501 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended, or a statutory successor
thereof, shall  not  operate a free clinic; provided, that
the licensee of any free clinic so licensed on the effective date of
this section shall not be required to obtain tax-exempt status under
either federal or state law in order to be eligible for, or as a
condition of, renewal of its license.  No   A
 natural person  or persons  shall  not
 operate a free clinic.
   (2)  Nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit a community clinic
or a free clinic from providing services to patients whose services
are reimbursed by third-party payers, or from entering into managed
care contracts for services provided to private or public health plan
subscribers, as long as the clinic meets the requirements identified
in subparagraphs (A) and (B). For purposes of this subdivision,
 any payments   a payment  made to a
community clinic by a third-party payer, including, but not limited
to, a health care service plan, shall not constitute a charge to the
patient. This paragraph is a clarification of existing law.
   (b)  The following types of specialty clinics shall be eligible
for licensure as specialty clinics pursuant to this chapter:
   (1)  A "surgical clinic" means a clinic that is not part of a
hospital and that provides ambulatory surgical care for patients who
remain less than 24 hours  at the facility  . A surgical
clinic does not include any place or establishment owned or leased
and operated as a clinic or office by one or more physicians or
dentists in individual or group practice, regardless of the name used
publicly to identify the place or establishment, provided, however,
that physicians or dentists may, at their option, apply for
licensure.
   (2)  A "chronic dialysis clinic" means a clinic that provides less
than 24-hour care for the treatment of patients with end-stage renal
disease, including renal dialysis services.
   (3)  A "rehabilitation clinic" means a clinic that, in addition to
providing medical services directly, also provides physical
rehabilitation services for patients who remain less than 24 hours.
Rehabilitation clinics shall provide at least two of the following
rehabilitation services: physical therapy, occupational therapy,
social, speech pathology, and audiology services. A rehabilitation
clinic does not include the offices of a private physician in
individual or group practice.
   (4)  An "alternative birth center" means a clinic that is not part
of a hospital and that provides comprehensive perinatal services and
delivery care to pregnant women who remain less than 24 hours at the
facility.