BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1445 (Evans) - Developmental services: regional centers:
individual program plans: telehealth.
Amended: April 10, 2014 Policy Vote: Human Services 5-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2014 Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 1445 would explicitly authorize telehealth
services and supports authorized to be included in an individual
program plan under the Lanterman Act.
Fiscal Impact:
Minor costs to provide technical assistance to regional
centers by the Department of Developmental Services (General
Fund).
Unknown impact on the use of services by regional center
consumers (General Fund and federal funds). To the extent
that the bill results in regional center consumers using
telehealth services, there could be both increased
utilization of services and reduced costs for current
services. To date, there has been limited use of telehealth
in the regional center system, so predicting utilization
impacts is difficult.
There may be circumstances where greater knowledge of the
availability of telehealth services by consumers and their
families increases the utilization services. For example, in
rural areas of the state there may be limited numbers of
providers for certain services. For services that are
recurring or of long duration (such as behavioral health
services), greater access to providers in other areas of the
state through telehealth may increase the demand for those
services by consumers from rural areas.
On the other hand, services provided through telehealth may
be less expensive than services provided in person. In such
cases, greater use of telehealth may reduce costs to the
regional centers.
SB 1445 (Evans)
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Background: California provides community-based services to
approximately 250,000 persons with developmental disabilities
and their families through a statewide system of 21 regional
centers. Regional centers are private, nonprofit agencies under
contract with the Department of Developmental Services for the
provision of various services and supports to people with
developmental disabilities. As a single point of entry, regional
centers provide diagnostic and assessment services to determine
eligibility, convene planning teams to develop an Individual
Program Plan for each eligible consumer, and either provide or
obtain from generic agencies appropriate services for each
consumer in accordance with the Individual Program Plan.
Proposed Law: SB 1445 would explicitly authorize telehealth
services and supports authorized to be included in an individual
program plan under the Lanterman Act.
Related Legislation:
AB 1231 (V.M. Perez, 2013) would have required the
Department of Developmental Services to inform all regional
centers that appropriate services may be provided to
regional center consumers through the use of telehealth.
That bill was vetoed by Governor Brown.
SB 764 (Steinberg, 2012) would have required the use of
telehealth to be considered when developing each Individual
Program Plan. That bill was vetoed by Governor Brown.
SB 1050 (Alquist, 2012) would have require the Department
of Developmental Services to establish an autism telehealth
taskforce. That bill was vetoed by Governor Brown.
Comments: There is nothing in current law that prohibits the use
of telehealth services to provide appropriate services to
regional center consumers. Prior bills on this subject have been
vetoed by Governor Brown, citing the ability of regional centers
to authorize appropriate telehealth services under current law.
However, by placing an explicit authorization for the use of
telehealth in the Lanterman Act, it is possible that the bill
will increase awareness of, and interest in, telehealth services
as a way to access services and supports by regional center
consumers and their families. Such an increase in awareness may
lead to increased utilization of services, as described above.
SB 1445 (Evans)
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