California Assembly Bill AB847 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 847AMENDED 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.