Commission on Health Care Cost Review.

Existing law establishes various programs relating to health policy and planning in this state. Existing law establishes the California Health Benefit Review Program to assess legislation that proposes to mandate or repeal a mandated health benefit or service, as defined, and to prepare a written analysis with relevant data on specified information, including public health impacts and financial impacts. This bill would establish the Commission on Health Care Cost Review to study and report every 2 years to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Health on public policies affecting health care costs and access to health care coverage in California. The commission would be comprised of 5 members, with 3 members appointed by the Governor, one member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, and one member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, subject to 4-year terms. The bill would authorize the Department of Managed Health Care to accept voluntary contributions to be deposited into the Health Care Affordability Fund, which the bill would create in the State Treasury, to fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the costs of the operation of the commission. The bill would provide that the implementation of these provisions is contingent upon a determination of the department that sufficient voluntary contributions exist or will exist in the Health Care Affordability Fund. The bill would repeal these provisions on either January 1, 2020, if the department does not, by December 31, 2019, notify the Legislature that it has received sufficient voluntary contributions to fund the costs of operation of the commission, or on January 1, 2025, if the department, by December 31, 2019, notifies the Legislature that it has received sufficient voluntary contributions to fund the costs of operation of the commission.