BILL NUMBER: AB 847	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 30, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Mullin and Ridley-Thomas

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2015

   An act relating to mental  health.   health,
and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 847, as amended, Mullin. Mental health: community-based
services.
   Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and
under which qualified low-income persons receive health care
benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by
federal Medicaid provisions. Existing law provides for a schedule of
benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for specified
services, including various mental health services. Existing federal
law, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, requires the
 federal   United States  Secretary of
Health and Human Services to, among other things, award, no later
than January 1, 2016, planning grants to states for the purpose of
developing proposals to participate in time-limited demonstration
programs to improve mental health services provided by certified
community behavioral health clinics to Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
   This bill would require the department to apply to the 
federal   United States  Secretary of Health and
Human Services for that planning grant. 
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute. 
   Vote:  majority   2/3  . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The State Department of Health Care Services shall
apply to the  federal   United States 
Secretary of Health and Human Services for the planning grant awarded
pursuant to Section 223 of the federal Protecting Access to Medicare
Act of 2014 for the purpose of developing proposals to participate
in time-limited demonstration programs to improve mental health
services provided by certified community behavioral health clinics to
Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
   SEC. 2.    This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
 
   The federal Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 requires the
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to award
planning grants no later than January 1, 2016. In order to require
the State Department of Health Care Services to apply for a planning
grant before the secretary awards the planning grants to states, it
is necessary that this bill go into immediate effect.