Amended in Assembly June 26, 2014

Amended in Senate May 27, 2014

Amended in Senate April 29, 2014

Senate Bill No. 1339

Introduced by Senator Cannella

(Coauthors: Senators Huff and Vidak)

( begin delete Coauthor: end delete begin insert Coauthors: end insert Assembly begin delete Member end delete begin insert Members Medina and end insert Wilk)

February 21, 2014

An act to add Section 14124.27 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to Medi-Cal.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1339, as amended, Cannella. Medi-Cal: Drug Medi-Cal Treatment Program providers.

Existing law provides for the Drug Medi-Cal (DMC) Treatment Program, under which counties enter into contracts with the State Department of Health Care Services begin insert (DHCS) end insert for the provision of various drug treatment services to Medi-Cal recipients, or the department directly arranges for the provision of these services if a county elects not to do so.

begin insert

Existing law requires the DHCS to screen Medi-Cal providers and designate each provider as “limited,” “moderate,” or “high” categorical risk. Existing law requires a provider or applicant designated as a “high” categorical risk, and a person with a 5% or greater direct or indirect ownership interest in the provider, to submit to the Department of Justice fingerprint images and related information for the purpose of obtaining information as to the existence of past criminal conduct, as specified. Existing law requires the Department of Justice to charge a fee, to be paid by the applicant or provider, sufficient to cover the cost of processing the criminal background check request.

end insert

This bill would require begin delete a county or the department, before contracting with a certified DMC provider, to require a certified DMC provider’s owner and medical director to submit to the Department of Justice (DOJ) fingerprint images and other information required by DOJ to obtain the person’s criminal history information, as specified. The bill would require DOJ to forward the person’s fingerprint images and other information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain federal criminal history information and would require DOJ to report the criminal history information to the county or department. The bill would also require the county or department to request subsequent arrest notification for the person. The bill would require DOJ to charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of processing that request and end delete begin insert DMC providers to be designated as a “high” categorical risk and be subject to the background checks described above. The bill would permit the department to designate a DMC provider as a “limited” or “moderate” categorical risk by executing a declaration stating the reason or reasons that a “high” categorical risk designation is no longer warranted. The bill end insert would provide that it is the responsibility of the DMC begin delete provider’s owner or medical director to pay that fee. end delete begin insert provider, or the person with a 5% or greater direct or indirect ownership interest in the provider, to pay the fee imposed for processing the criminal background check request, as applicable. end insert The bill would prohibit, except as provided by federal law, a DMC provider from being excluded from contracting with a county or the department based solely on the existence of a past criminal record of the DMC begin delete provider’s owner or medical director. end delete begin insert provider or a person with a 5% or greater direct or indirect ownership interest in the provider. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 14124.27 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:

begin delete

14124.27.  

(a) A county or the department, before contracting
with a certified Drug Medi-Cal (DMC) provider, shall require a
certified DMC provider’s owner and medical director to submit
to the Department of Justice fingerprint images and related
information required by the Department of Justice for the purpose
of obtaining information as to the existence and content of a record
of state and federal convictions and arrests and information as to
the existence and content of a record of state and federal arrests
for which the Department of Justice establishes that the person is
free on bail, or on his or her own recognizance, pending trial or
appeal.

(b) The Department of Justice shall forward the fingerprint
images and related information received pursuant to subdivision
(a) to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and request a federal
summary of criminal information. The Department of Justice shall
review the information returned from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and compile and disseminate a response to the county
or department pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (p) of
Section 11105 of the Penal Code.

(c) The county or department contracting with the DMC provider
shall request subsequent arrest notification service from the
Department of Justice, as provided under Section 11105.2 of the
Penal Code, for

persons described in subdivision (a).

(d) (1) The Department of Justice shall charge a fee sufficient
to cover the cost of processing the requests described in this
section.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert 14124.27. end insert   

end insert begin insert

(a) (1) Certified Drug Medi-Cal (DMC) providers
shall be designated as a “high” categorical risk pursuant to
Section 14043.38 and the provider and any person with a 5 percent
or greater direct or indirect ownership interest in the provider
shall be subject to background checks pursuant to the provisions
of that section.

end insert begin insert

(2) The department may designate a DMC provider as a
“limited” or “moderate” categorical risk for purposes of Section
14043.38 and federal regulations. To designate a DMC provider
as a “limited” or “moderate” categorical risk, the department
shall execute a declaration, to be retained by the director, with a
copy to be posted on the department’s Internet Web site and a copy
transmitted to the Legislature, stating the reason or reasons that
a “high” categorical risk designation for that provider is no longer
warranted.

end insert begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert ( end insert begin insert b) end insert  Payment of the fee imposed pursuant to paragraph begin delete (1) end delete begin insert (5)
of subdivision (d) of Section 14043.38 end insert shall be the responsibility
of the DMC begin delete provider’s owner or medical director, as applicable. end delete
begin insert provider or person with a 5 percent or greater direct or indirect
ownership interest in the provider, as applicable. end insert

begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert ( end insert begin insert c) end insert  Except as provided by federal law, a DMC provider shall
not be excluded from contracting with a county or the department
based solely on the existence of a past criminal record of the DMC
begin delete provider’s owner or medical director. end delete begin insert provider or a person with 5
percent or greater direct or indirect ownership interest in the
provider. end insert