BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 946
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Date of Hearing: August 17, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 946 (Committee on Health) - As Amended: May 10, 2011
Policy Committee: HealthVote:18-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill makes various technical and non-controversial changes
to statutes governing telemedicine, emergency medical services
(EMS) funds, food safety, HIV reporting, health information
privacy, health insurance, and mental health services payments.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Deletes references to "telemedicine" in various statutes and
replaces them with the term "telehealth."
2)Deletes obsolete reporting requirements imposed on the
Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) related to the
application of telemedicine, including store-and-forward
telemedicine.
3)Requires each county that has established a Maddy EMS Fund to
include a description of each disbursement for other EMS
purposes in its annual report to the Legislature, if funds
were disbursed for these purposes, and other additional
information, as specified, regarding the monies collected and
disbursed.
4)Updates the California Retail Food Code (CRFC) to define the
term "hot dog;" require food service employees to wash their
hands prior to donning gloves for working with food or
replacing gloves that need to be changed or replaced; prohibit
single-use gloves from being washed; and, establish sanitation
requirements for food service employees with lesions or open
wounds.
5)Authorizes the Department of Public Health (DPH) to develop a
form to be used to report cases of HIV infection to the local
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health department and permits the form to be implemented
without promulgating new regulations.
6)Renames the Office of Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) Implementation as the California
Office of Health Information Integrity (CalOHII).
7)Deletes a redundant code section requiring CalOHII to be under
the supervision of a director appointed by the Secretary of
Health and Human Services Agency and eliminates obsolete
reporting requirements.
8)Modifies the frequency with which the existing advisory
committee on statewide HIPAA implementation meets from at
least twice a year to an "as required" basis.
9)Revises specified sections of the Insurance Code relating to
coverage for a child to replace references to "solicitor" with
"agent or broker" or "agent or broker of the carrier."
10)Conforms state law to existing federal regulations and
current practice of the Department of Mental Health (DMH) with
regard to negotiated rates and incentive payments for the
provision of Medi-Cal reimbursable community mental health
services.
11)Makes other minor technical changes to correct drafting and
grammatical errors.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor, if any, state reimbursable mandate costs associated with
increased reporting requirements related to county-based Maddy
EMS funds. Other provisions of this bill will have negligible
state fiscal impact.
COMMENTS
Rationale . This bill is authored by the Senate Committee on
Health as omnibus legislation containing technical and/or
non-controversial changes to laws affecting various health
agencies, programs, and services.
Analysis Prepared by : Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
SB 946
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