California Health Facilities Financing Authority Act: California Health Facility Construction Loan Insurance Law.

The California Health Facilities Financing Authority Act authorizes the California Health Facilities Financing Authority to, among other things, make loans from the continuously appropriated California Health Facilities Financing Authority Fund to participating health institutions, as defined, for financing or refinancing the acquisition, construction, or remodeling of health facilities. This bill would expand the program to include for-profit skilled nursing facilities by adding those entities to the definition of "participating health institutions." The bill would, until January 1, 2024, require the authority to provide funding to skilled nursing facilities in a specified order of priority, including by requiring skilled nursing facilities for which at least 95% of their patients are Medi-Cal beneficiaries to be given first priority. Because this bill would expand the purposes for which a continuously appropriated fund may be used, it would make an appropriation. Existing law establishes the California Health Facility Construction Loan Insurance Law to provide, without cost to the state, an insurance program for health facility construction, improvement, and expansion loans in order to stimulate the flow of private capital into health facilities construction, improvement, and expansion and in order to rationally meet the need for new, expanded, and modernized public and nonprofit health facilities necessary to protect the health of all the people of this state. Existing law establishes the Health Facility Construction Loan Insurance Fund in the State Treasury, to be continuously appropriated to carry out the provisions and administrative costs of the insurance program. Under existing law, political subdivisions, as defined, and nonprofit corporations are authorized to apply for state insurance of needed construction, improvement, or expansion loans for construction, remodeling, or acquisition of health facilities, as provided, and applicants are required to pay an application fee not to exceed $500, which is deposited into the fund. This bill would expand the program to include for-profit corporations that operate skilled nursing facilities by, among other things, adding those entities to the definition of "health facilities" and making those entities eligible to apply for the insurance program. The bill would, until January 1, 2024, require loan insurance to be granted to skilled nursing facilities in a specified order of priority, including by requiring skilled nursing facilities for which at least 95% of their patients are Medi-Cal beneficiaries to be given first priority. Because this bill would add a new source of revenue and expand the purposes for which a continuously appropriated fund may be used, it would make an appropriation.