California Assembly Bill AB2522 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 2522INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Williams FEBRUARY 24, 2012 An act to amend Section 1204 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to health and care facilities. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2522, as introduced, Williams. Health and care facilities: primary care and specialty clinics. Existing law, with certain exceptions, provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities and clinics, including primary care and specialty clinics, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires primary care and specialty clinics to meet certain criteria in order to be eligible for licensure. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 1204 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 1204. Clinics eligible for licensure pursuant to this chapter are primary care clinics and specialty clinics. (a) (1) Only the following defined classes of primary care clinics shall be eligible for licensure: (A) A "community clinic" means a clinic operated by a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation that is supported and maintained in whole or in part by donations, bequests, gifts, grants, government funds or contributions, that may be in the form of money, goods, or services. In a community clinic,  any charges   a charge  to the patient shall be based on the patient's ability to pay, utilizing a sliding fee scale. No   A  corporation other than a nonprofit corporation, exempt from federal income taxation under paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended, or a statutory successor thereof, shall  not  operate a community clinic; provided, that the licensee of any community clinic so licensed on the effective date of this section shall not be required to obtain tax-exempt status under either federal or state law in order to be eligible for, or as a condition of, renewal of its license.  No   A  natural person or persons  shall  not  operate a community clinic. (B) A "free clinic" means a clinic operated by a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation supported in whole or in part by voluntary donations, bequests, gifts, grants, government funds or contributions, that may be in the form of money, goods, or services. In a free clinic there shall be no charges directly to the patient for services rendered or for drugs, medicines, appliances, or apparatuses furnished.  No   A  corporation other than a nonprofit corporation exempt from federal income taxation under paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended, or a statutory successor thereof, shall  not  operate a free clinic; provided, that the licensee of any free clinic so licensed on the effective date of this section shall not be required to obtain tax-exempt status under either federal or state law in order to be eligible for, or as a condition of, renewal of its license.  No   A  natural person  or persons  shall  not  operate a free clinic. (2) Nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit a community clinic or a free clinic from providing services to patients whose services are reimbursed by third-party payers, or from entering into managed care contracts for services provided to private or public health plan subscribers, as long as the clinic meets the requirements identified in subparagraphs (A) and (B). For purposes of this subdivision,  any payments   a payment  made to a community clinic by a third-party payer, including, but not limited to, a health care service plan, shall not constitute a charge to the patient. This paragraph is a clarification of existing law. (b) The following types of specialty clinics shall be eligible for licensure as specialty clinics pursuant to this chapter: (1) A "surgical clinic" means a clinic that is not part of a hospital and that provides ambulatory surgical care for patients who remain less than 24 hours  at the facility  . A surgical clinic does not include any place or establishment owned or leased and operated as a clinic or office by one or more physicians or dentists in individual or group practice, regardless of the name used publicly to identify the place or establishment, provided, however, that physicians or dentists may, at their option, apply for licensure. (2) A "chronic dialysis clinic" means a clinic that provides less than 24-hour care for the treatment of patients with end-stage renal disease, including renal dialysis services. (3) A "rehabilitation clinic" means a clinic that, in addition to providing medical services directly, also provides physical rehabilitation services for patients who remain less than 24 hours. Rehabilitation clinics shall provide at least two of the following rehabilitation services: physical therapy, occupational therapy, social, speech pathology, and audiology services. A rehabilitation clinic does not include the offices of a private physician in individual or group practice. (4) An "alternative birth center" means a clinic that is not part of a hospital and that provides comprehensive perinatal services and delivery care to pregnant women who remain less than 24 hours at the facility.