California Assembly Bill AB916 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 916AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2011 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member V. Manuel Prez FEBRUARY 18, 2011 An act to amend Section 1216 of, and to add and repeal Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 127645) of Part 2 of Division 107 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 916, as amended, V. Manuel Prez. Health: underserved communities. Under existing law, the California Health and Human Services Agency is required to establish an interdepartmental Task Force on Rural Health to coordinate rural health policy development and program operations and to develop a strategic plan for rural health. This  bill would state the intent of the Legislature to ensure that counties address the needs of underserved communities by maximizing the use of nonprofit health providers that are critical to the health of farmworkers and other individuals, as specified. This  bill would establish the Task Force on the Health Care Needs of Farmworkers, composed as prescribed, to develop a comprehensive agenda of programs and public policy initiatives that are designed to address the health care needs of farmworkers in California, and provide a report containing specified information to the office of the Governor and the State Department of Health Care Services by December 31, 2013. This bill would provide that the task force is to be funded by federal or private funds and that if, by January 1, 2013, the office of the Governor determines that the task force has insufficient funding to carry out its activities, the activities of the task force shall cease. This bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2014. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. Existing law provides that federally qualified health center services, as defined, are covered benefits under the Medi-Cal program. Existing law requires every clinic holding a license to file annually with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development a verified report showing prescribed information. Violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would require all federally qualified health centers operated by a county to file this report  , except as specified, commencing in the 2015 calendar year  . By changing the definition of a crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   It is this intent of the Legislature to ensure that counties address the needs of underserved communities by maximizing the use of nonprofit health providers that are critical to the health of farmworkers and other individuals if county governments are given greater authority and control to operate specific health programs through realignment by requiring that the realignment includes all of the following: (a) Minority communities being served shall be consulted and involved in developing service delivery models and infrastructure. (b) Nonprofit community-based organizations providing health care, social services, and mental health services shall be included in the delivery of these services to impacted and targeted communities. (c) No reduction in the current role and scope of nonprofit organizations in the operation of health programs. (d) Priority to establishing partnerships between county government and nonprofit organizations to effectively deliver coordinated services.   SEC. 2.   SECTION 1.  Section 1216 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 1216. (a) Every clinic holding a license shall, on or before  the 15th day of  February  15 of  each year, file with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development upon forms to be furnished by the office, a verified report showing the following information relating to the previous calendar year: (1) Number of patients served and descriptive information, including age, gender, race, and ethnic background of patients. (2) Number of patient visits by type of service, including all of the following: (A) Child health and disability prevention screenings, treatment, and followup services. (B) Medical services. (C) Dental services. (D) Other health services. (3) Total clinic operating expenses. (4) Gross patient charges by payer category, including Medicare, Medi-Cal, the Child Health Disability Prevention Program, county indigent programs, other county programs, private insurance, self-paying patients, nonpaying patients, and other payers. (5) Deductions from revenue by payer category, bad debts, and charity care charges. (6) Additional information as may be required by the office or the department. (b) In the event a clinic fails to file a timely report, the department may suspend the license of the clinic until the report is completed and filed with the office. (c) In order to promote efficient reporting of accurate data, the office shall consider the unique operational characteristics of different classifications of licensed clinics, including, but not limited to, the limited scope of services provided by some specialty clinics, in its design of forms for the collection of data required by this section. (d) For the purpose of administering funds appropriated from the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund for support of licensed clinics, clinics receiving those funds may be required to report any additional data the office or the department may determine necessary to ensure the equitable distribution and appropriate expenditure of those funds. This shall include, but not be limited to, information about the poverty level of patients served and communicable diseases reported to local health departments. (e) This section shall apply to all primary care clinics. (f) This section shall apply to all specialty clinics, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1204 of the Health and Safety Code that receive tobacco tax funds pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 30121) of Chapter 2 of Part 13 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. (g) Specialty clinics that are not required to report pursuant to subdivision (f) shall report data as directed in Section 1216 as it existed prior to the enactment of Chapter 1331 of the Statutes of 1989 and Chapter 51 of the Statutes of 1990. (h)  Federally   Commencing in the 2015 calendar year, federally  qualified health centers, as described in Section 1395x(aa)(4) or 1396d(l)(2)(B) of Title 42 of the United States Code, operated by a county shall file the report described in subdivision (a)  , unless the health center is an exempt clinic pursuant to subdivi   sion (d) or (e) of Section 1206  .  SEC. 3.   SEC. 2.  Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 127645) is added to Part 2 of Division 107 of the Health and Safety Code, to read: CHAPTER 6. TASK FORCE ON THE HEALTH CARE NEEDS OF FARMWORKERS 127645. (a) The Task Force on the Health Care Needs of Farmworkers is hereby established to develop a comprehensive agenda of programs and public policy initiatives that are designed to address the health care needs of farmworkers in California. (b) The activities of the task force shall be funded by federal or private funds. If, by January 1, 2013, the office of the Governor determines that the task force has insufficient funding to carry out its activities pursuant to this chapter, the activities of the task force shall cease. (c) The task force shall be composed of 11 members. The members of the task force shall be farmworker representatives, representatives from nonprofit community health centers with an established record of serving farmworker communities,  representatives from county hospital owned or affiliated clinics, representatives of other county health organizations,  representatives of growers, and representatives of philanthropic foundations. The members shall be appointed as follows: (1) The office of the Governor shall appoint five members. (2) The Speaker of the Assembly and the President pro Tempore of the Senate shall each appoint three members. 127646. The task force shall issue a report that shall be provided to the State Department of Health Care Services and to the Governor by December 31, 2013, that includes all of the following: (a) Strategies to create public and private partnerships between growers, federal, state, and local government entities, nonprofit community health centers, and farmworker community representatives for the purpose of coordinating respective resources to create new initiatives to provide health insurance, or equivalent coverage, for farmworkers who will not be covered by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148). (b) A plan that coordinates county health care delivery systems to integrate federally qualified health centers, as described in Section 1395x(aa)(4) or 1396d(l)(2)(B) of Title 42 of the United States Code, and  coordinates   to coordinate  the systems to target farmworkers. (c) A plan to increase the number of culturally competent health professionals in underserved rural areas. (d) A plan to expand  access to health care services via  telehealth  care services   to the extent that these services are not otherwise locally available  . (e) A plan to coordinate a network of providers to ensure a continuum of health care as farmworkers migrate within and outside of the state. (f) Long-term strategies for educating, training, and preparing workers for other industries, including, but not limited to, green technology. (g) Viable strategies for enabling farmworkers to purchase affordable housing. 127647. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2014, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2014, deletes or extends that date.  SEC. 4.   SEC. 3.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.