BILL NUMBER: SB 616INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier FEBRUARY 18, 2011 An act relating to public health. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 616, as introduced, DeSaulnier. Wellness Program Demonstration Project. Existing law establishes various programs to prevent disease and promote health. Existing federal law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, by July 1, 2014, establishes a 10-state Wellness Program Demonstration Project to promote health and prevent disease. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to create a wellness program to prevent disease and promote health that meets all necessary federal qualifications for California to be a participating pilot state. 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. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The President of the United States signed comprehensive health reform into law on March 23, 2010. The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) and the federal Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-152) represent a significant reform of the nation's health delivery system, including many provisions designed to promote prevention, wellness, and patient-centered health outcomes. (b) Federal health reform has several provisions that focus on prevention and health promotion, including community-based obesity prevention programs, community transformation grants, nutrition labeling, individualized wellness plan pilots, and workplace wellness programs. (c) California has a strong history of public health prevention programs, including, but not limited to, one of the nation's leading tobacco control programs. Since 1989, there has been a 35 percent decrease in smoking prevalence, a 61 percent decline in per capita cigarette consumption, and a decrease in lung cancer incidence that is over three times the rate of decline seen in the rest of the nation. Collectively, the program's efforts have saved the state $86 billion in direct health care costs. (d) Unfortunately, California's priority populations remain at greater risk of tobacco use, disease, and death. African American males continue to have the highest smoking prevalence, 21.3 percent, compared to their counterparts in all other major race and ethnicity groups who smoke at a range between 14.9 percent and 17.2 percent, inclusive. African American and non-Hispanic white females also have significantly higher smoking prevalence rates, of 17.3 percent and 12.5 percent respectively, compared to Hispanic and Asian and Pacific Islander females whose smoking prevalence rates are 7.1 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. However, the most startling evidence of disparity lies with smoking prevalence among low-income populations. (e) California will be a national model for public health interventions and prevention and wellness programs. Communities and individuals must be empowered to make changes that best address their circumstances and resource needs. SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to create a wellness program to prevent disease and promote health. This program should meet all necessary federal qualifications for California to be a participating pilot state in the Wellness Program Demonstration Project that will be established no later than July 1, 2014, in accordance with Section 1201 of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148).