BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1877
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1877 (Cooley)
As Amended May 23, 2014
2/3 vote. Urgency
HEALTH 19-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Pan, Maienschein, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Ammiano, Holden, Bonilla, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Bonta, Ch�vez, Chesbro, | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| |Gomez, Gonzalez, | |Gomez, Holden, Jones, |
| |Roger Hern�ndez, Mansoor, | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| |Nazarian, Nestande, | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| |Patterson, Ridley-Thomas, | |Weber |
| |Wagner, Wieckowski, | | |
| |Eggman | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Creates in state government the California Vision Care
Access Council (Council), modeled after the California Health
Benefit Exchange (Exchange), to create a marketplace for the
purchase of vision plans by individuals and employers. Contains an
urgency clause in order to become effective immediately upon
enactment. Specifically, this bill :
1)Creates requirements for the government of the Council by an
uncompensated executive board, appointed by the Governor, the
Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly that
complies with broad conflict of interest and open meeting
provisions.
2)Gives the Council the following duties:
a) Construct, manage, and maintain a vision plan marketplace,
accessible through a website and through other means.
b) Selectively contract for vision coverage in each region of
the state so as to provide options that offer the optimal
combination of choice, value, quality, and service. Determine
and approve cost-sharing provisions for vision plans and
standardize products offered through the Council.
c) Work cooperatively with the Exchange to establish a direct
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link from the Exchange Web site to the Council Web site. Refer
consumers to the Exchange if they have questions about Medi-Cal
or Exchange plan enrollment and eligibility.
d) Market and publicize the Council's vision plans, while
ensuring clear communication to consumers that federal
subsidies are not available for this coverage.
e) Provide information in a culturally and linguistically
appropriate manner and conduct public outreach.
f) Assess a charge on the vision plans offered through the
marketplace that is reasonable and necessary to support the
development, operations, and prudent cash management of the
Council.
3)Gives the Council the authority to enter into contracts; adopt an
official seal; sue and be sued; adopt rules and regulations; and
receive and accept gifts, grants, or donations from government
agencies and from individuals, associations, private foundations,
or corporations, in compliance with conflict of interest
provisions adopted by the board at a public meeting.
4)Prohibits the use of state General Fund moneys for the purposes of
this bill. Creates the California Vision Care Access Trust Fund
(Fund) in the State Treasury, continuously appropriated to fund
the activities of the Council, and requires any costs associated
with the implementation of this bill to be paid from the fund.
Makes this bill's implementation contingent on the existence of at
least $250,000 in the fund.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)One-time costs as follows:
a) Significant costs, likely millions of dollars at a minimum
(special fund), for information technology (IT) systems with
required functionality.
b) Indeterminate costs, likely in the range of hundreds of
thousands to low millions of dollars (special fund) for initial
policy and procedure development, hiring, training, equipment,
and other start-up activities.
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c) This bill makes implementation contingent upon $250,000 in
the fund, but does not provide a mechanism for funding start-up
costs.
2)Ongoing costs of at least $5 million dollars (special fund/fee
revenue), for state staff and IT support of numerous activities
including enrollment, provision of information via a public facing
website, financial management, public outreach and communication,
and plan contracting and oversight.
This bill requires the Council to assess a charge on the vision
plans offered through the marketplace that is reasonable and
necessary to support Council activities, but does not require the
Council to be fully fee-supported.
COMMENTS : In 2012, the Exchange Board adopted a policy to offer
supplemental dental and vision benefits through the Exchange, on the
basis that stand-alone vision plans may increase the likelihood of
utilization and provide greater emphasis on preventive care, and
that offering stand-alone vision plans would bolster the consumer
friendliness of the Exchange. However, subsequent federal guidance
indicated that stand-alone vision plans cannot be offered in or
through an exchange.
VSP Global, the sponsor of this bill, notes that vision coverage,
particularly in California, is primarily provided through
stand-alone plans. VSP further asserts that eye doctors are able to
detect previously undetected chronic conditions like diabetes,
hypertension, and high cholesterol. Moreover, VSP asserts that
enrollees in stand-alone vision plans are more likely to utilize
their benefits than enrollees with vision benefits bundled with
other health care services. This bill is intended to use federal
guidance to create a new marketplace for the purchase of affordable,
quality vision care coverage, thereby increasing access to vision
care through stand-alone vision plans.
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Russell / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
FN: 0003741
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