California Assembly Bill AB1710 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1710AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Yamada FEBRUARY 15, 2012 An act to amend Sections  1266.9,  1416.36,  and  1416.38  , and 1416.70  of  , and to add Section 1416.71 to,  the Health and Safety Code, relating to health and care facilities  , and making an appropriation therefor  . LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1710, as amended, Yamada. Nursing home administrators: fees  and fines . Existing law, the Nursing Home Administrators' Act, provides for the licensing of nursing home administrators by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law prescribes specified licensing fees, and requires that the fees be adjusted annually, as directed by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, by an amount not to exceed the California Consumer Price Index, as specified.  Existing law provides for the issuance of citations and administrative fines for the violation of any state or federal statute or regulation governing licensed nursing home administrators.  Existing law requires that these fees  and associated fines  be deposited in the Nursing Home Administrator's State License Examining Fund, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would  eliminate the Nursing Home Administrator's State License Examining Fund and  instead require that these fees  and fines  be deposited into  a continuously appropriated account, which would be established as the Nursing Home Administrator Licensing Account in  the State Department of Public Health Licensing and Certification Program Fund. This bill would authorize the department to adjust  these   the  fees, and would remove the adjustment limitation relating to the California Consumer Price Index.  Because the bill would authorize an increase in the amount of fees deposited into a continuously appropriated account, the bill would make an appropriation.  This bill would require the department, by January 15 of each year, to prepare certain reports relating to nursing home administrator fees, fee adjustments, and nursing home administration generally. The bill would require the department to submit these reports to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature and to post these reports on its Internet Web site.  The bill also would make a technical, conforming change relating to the Nursing Home Administrator's State License Examining Fund.  Vote: majority. Appropriation:  yes   no  . Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 1266.9 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 1266.9. (a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury the State Department of Public Health Licensing and Certification Program Fund. The revenue collected in accordance with Section 1266 shall be deposited in the State Department of Public Health Licensing and Certification Program Fund and shall be available for expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to support the department's Licensing and Certification Program's operation. Interest earned on the moneys in the fund shall be deposited as revenue into the fund to support the department's Licensing and Certification Program's operation. (b) There is hereby created in the State Department of Public Health Licensing and Certification Program Fund the Nursing Home Administrator Licensing Account. The fees collected pursuant to Section 1416.38 shall be deposited into the account and shall be continuously appropriated as specified in Section 1416.38.   SEC. 2.   SECTION 1.  Section 1416.36 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 1416.36. (a) The fees prescribed by this chapter are as follows: (1) The application fee for reviewing an applicant's eligibility to take the examination shall be twenty-five dollars ($25). (2) The application fee for persons applying for reciprocity consideration licensure under Section 1416.40 shall be fifty dollars ($50). (3) The application fee for persons applying for the AIT Program shall be one hundred dollars ($100). (4) The examination fees shall be: (A) Two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275) for an automated national examination. (B) Two hundred ten dollars ($210) for an automated state examination or one hundred forty dollars ($140) for a written state examination. (5) The fee for an initial license shall be one hundred ninety dollars ($190). (6) The renewal fee for an active or inactive license shall be one hundred ninety dollars ($190). (7) The delinquency fee shall be fifty dollars ($50). (8) The duplicate license fee shall be twenty-five dollars ($25). (9) The fee for a provisional license shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250). (10) The fee for endorsement of credentials to the licensing authority of another state shall be twenty-five dollars ($25). (11) The preceptor certification fee shall be fifty dollars ($50) for each three-year period. (12) The biennial fee for approval of a continuing education provider shall be one hundred fifty dollars ($150). (13) The biennial fee for approval of a continuing education course shall be not more than fifteen dollars ($15). (b) If the revenue projected to be collected is less than the projected costs for the budget year, the department may propose that fees be adjusted to an amount sufficient to cover the reasonable regulatory costs to the department. Commencing February 1, 2013, and every February 1 thereafter, the department shall publish a list of proposed adjustments to fees pursuant to this section. (c) (1) The department shall, within 30 days of the enactment of the annual Budget Act each year, publish a list of actual numerical fee charges as adjusted pursuant to this section. The final fee list, with an explanation of any adjustment, shall be published by all of the following means: (A) Issuing a letter to all licensed nursing home administrators, all skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities, and all continuing education providers. (B) Posting the list on the department's Internet Web site. (C) Including the final fee list as part of the licensing application package. (2) This adjustment of fees and the publication of the fee list shall not be subject to the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. (d) (1) By January 15 of each year, the department shall prepare the following reports and shall make those reports available to the public by submitting them to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, and by posting them on the department' s Internet Web site: (A) A report of all costs to implement activities required by this chapter. As part of this report, the department shall recommend adjustments to fees based on projected workload and costs. The cost estimates and estimated fees shall be based on appropriation amounts in the Governor's proposed budget for the next fiscal year. (B) A staffing and systems analysis to ensure efficient and effective utilization of fees collected and proper allocation of departmental resources for the administration of activities required by this chapter. This analysis shall include the following information for the current fiscal year and each of the previous four fiscal years: (i) The number of persons applying for a nursing home administrator's license, the number of nursing home administrator licenses approved or denied, and the number of nursing home administrator licenses renewed. (ii) The number of applicants taking the nursing home administrator exam and the number of applicants who pass or fail the exam. (iii) The number of persons applying for, accepted into, and completing the AIT Program. (iv) The number, source, and disposition of complaints made against persons in the AIT Program and licensed nursing home administrators, including the length of time between receipt of the complaint and completion of the investigation. (v) The number and type of final administrative, remedial, or disciplinary actions taken against licensed nursing home administrators. (vi) A listing of the names and nature of violations for individual licensed nursing home administrators, including final administrative, remedial, or disciplinary actions taken. (vii) The number of appeals, informal conferences, or hearings filed by nursing home administrators or held, the length of time between the request being filed and the final determination of the appeal, and the number of administrative, remedial, or disciplinary actions taken. (2) The reports required to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.  SEC. 3.   SEC. 2.  Section 1416.38 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 1416.38.  (a)    Within 10 days after the beginning of every month, all fees collected by the program for the month preceding, under this chapter, shall be paid into the  Nursing Home Administrator Licensing Account in the  State Department of Public Health Licensing and Certification Program Fund established by Section 1266.9  .   (b)     The Nursing Home Administrator Licensing Account shall be continuously appropriated to the program for expenditures in the manner prescribed by law  to defray the expenses of the program and in carrying out and enforcing the provisions of this chapter.  SEC. 4.   Section 1416.71 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 1416.71. The Nursing Home Administrator's State License Examining Board Fund in the Professions and Vocations Fund in the State Treasury is renamed the Nursing Home Administrator's State License Examining Fund and continued in existence in the State Treasury.   SEC. 3.   Section 1416.70 of the   Health and Safety Code   is amended to read:  1416.70. (a) The program shall establish a system for the issuance of citations to licensees, examinees, or participants of any program activity offered or approved by the program. The citations may contain an order of abatement, an order to pay an administrative fine assessed by the program chief, or both, where the licensee, examinee, or participant is in violation of any state or federal statute or regulation governing licensed nursing home administrators. (b) The system shall contain all of the following provisions: (1) Citations shall be in writing and shall describe with particularity the nature of the violation, including specific reference to the provision of law determined to have been violated. (2) Where appropriate, the citation shall contain an order of abatement fixing reasonable time for abatement of the violation. (3) (A) Administrative fines assessed by the program shall be separate from and shall not preclude the levying of any other fines or any civil or criminal penalty. (B) In no event shall the administrative fine assessed by the program be less than fifty dollars ($50) or exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each violation. The total assessment shall not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each investigation or for counts involving fraudulent billings submitted to insurance companies, Medi-Cal, or Medicare programs. (4) In assessing a fine, the program shall give due consideration to the appropriateness of the amount of the fine with respect to factors such as the gravity of the violation, the good faith effort of the licensee, examinee, or participant, the unprofessional conduct, including, but not limited to, incompetence and negligence in the performance of the duties and responsibilities of an administrator, the extent to which the cited person has mitigated or attempted to mitigate any damage or injury caused by his or her violation, whether the violation was related to patient care, the history of any previous violations, and other matters as may be appropriate. (5) A citation or fine assessment issued pursuant to a citation shall inform the licensee, examinee, or participant, that if he or she desires a hearing to contest the finding of a violation, the hearing shall be requested by written notice to the program within 30 days after the date of issuance of the citation or assessment. A licensee may, in lieu of contesting a citation pursuant to this section, transmit to the state department 75 percent of the amount specified in the citation for each violation within 15 business days after the issuance of the citation. (6) Failure of a licensee, examinee, or participant to pay a fine within 30 days of the date of the assessment, unless the citation is being appealed, may result in further disciplinary action being taken by the program. Where a citation is not contested and a fine is not paid, the full amount of the assessed fine, along with any accrued penalty interest, shall be added to the fee for renewal of the license. A license shall not be renewed without payment of the renewal fee, fine, and accrued interest penalty. A citation may be issued without the assessment of an administrative fine. (c) Assessment of administrative fines may be limited to only particular violations of the applicable licensing act. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, where a fine is paid to satisfy an assessment based on the finding of a violation, payment of the fine shall be represented as satisfactory resolution of the matter for purposes of public disclosures. Administrative fines collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the  Nursing Home Administrator's State License Examining Fund   State Department of Public Health Licensing and Certification Program Fund established by Section 1266.9  .