California Health Benefit Exchange: employees and contractors.

The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires each state to establish an American Health Benefits Exchange that makes available qualified health plans to qualified individuals and small employers. Existing state law establishes the California Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange) within state government, specifies the powers and duties of the board governing the Exchange, and requires the board to facilitate the purchase of qualified health plans through the Exchange by qualified individuals and small employers by January 1, 2014. Existing law requires the board to employ necessary staff and authorizes the board to enter into contracts. Existing law requires the board to submit to the Department of Justice fingerprint images and related information of specified individuals whose duties include or would include access to specified information for the purposes of obtaining prescribed criminal history information. The bill would prohibit the board from hiring or contracting with a person, including an employee or prospective employee, who has been convicted of specified crimes if the person's duties would involve facilitating enrollment in qualified health plans or would give the person access to the financial or medical information of enrollees or potential enrollees of the Exchange. The bill would also require a person who has filed an application for employment with the Exchange to notify the Exchange of any prescribed misdemeanor or felony convictions, filing of misdemeanor or felony charges, or administrative actions that occur after submitting his or her application. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.