Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is in part governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law, subject to implementation of the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, requires the department to implement an enhanced care management (ECM) benefit designed to address the clinical and nonclinical needs on a whole-person-care basis for certain target populations of Medi-Cal beneficiaries enrolled in Medi-Cal managed care plans. Under existing law, target populations include, among others, high utilizers with frequent hospital admissions, short-term skilled nursing facility stays, or emergency room visits, and individuals experiencing homelessness. This bill would recast the definition of ECM, referring to community-based, high-touch coordination and comprehensive care management services, as specified. The bill would delete certain provisions that designate 2022 or 2023 timelines for commencing ECM coverage, depending on whether or not a Medi-Cal managed care plan operates in a county in which the Whole Person Care pilot program or the Health Home Program was implemented. Existing law, subject to CalAIM implementation, authorizes a Medi-Cal managed care plan to elect to cover community supports. Under existing law, community supports that the department is authorized to approve include, among others, housing transition navigation services and medically supportive food and nutrition services. This bill would require the department to publish and maintain policy guides and all-plan letters on its internet website that define model coverage standards and policy for each community support, to engage stakeholders, to provide ongoing technical assistance, and to establish a standard timeline and process for regular updates to community supports policy guides, as specified. The bill would require a Medi-Cal managed care plan to adopt community supports policies, and to educate its in-network community support providers, as specified. The bill would require the department to publish certain information on ECM and community supports utilization data on the department's internet website on a quarterly basis, to the extent feasible, until January 1, 2032. The bill would require the department, by March 31, 2029, to provide to the legislative committees specified information in writing necessary to inform legislative consideration of transitioning community supports to benefits that are required to be covered under the Medi-Cal program. The bill would make other technical changes to the ECM and community support provisions.
(1) Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, establishes the Board of Registered Nursing within the Department of Consumer Affairs, until January 1, 2027, and sets forth its powers and duties regarding the licensure and regulation of registered nurses. Existing law creates the Board of Registered Nursing Fund and makes all moneys in the fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature. A violation of the act is a crime. Existing law requires the board, until January 1, 2027, to appoint an executive officer to perform the duties delegated by the board and to be responsible to the board for the accomplishment of those duties, as specified. Existing law requires the board, for the purpose of transacting its business, to meet at least once every 3 months, at times and places it designates by resolution, and requires those meetings to be held in northern and southern California. This bill would extend those dates until January 1, 2031. The bill would remove the above-described location requirements for meetings held by the board, and, instead, require the board to meet at least once every 3 months in locations that are, to the extent practicable, geographically diverse. (2) Existing law specifies that an approved school of nursing, or an approved nursing program, is one that, among other things, gives a course of instruction approved by the board, as specified. Existing law requires the board to prepare and maintain a list of approved schools of nursing whose graduates are eligible to apply for a license to practice nursing, as provided. Existing law requires the board, through its executive officer, to inspect all schools of nursing in the state at the times the board deems necessary, as specified. This bill would require the board to make the list of approved schools of nursing available on its internet website. The bill would require the inspection criteria to be consistent with the 2020 Nursing Education Approval Guidelines established by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, or its successor, as specified. Existing law requires an approved school of nursing or a nursing program to meet a minimum of 500 direct patient care clinical hours in a board-approved clinical setting, as specified, and requires additional clinical hours required by the program for nursing education preparation in each nursing area as specified by the board to be identified and documented in the curriculum plan for each area. The bill would require any clinical practice hours that are not required to be in direct patient care and are provided using simulation experiences to be based on the best practices published by, among other specified entities, the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning, or based on any equivalent standards approved by the board. Existing law authorizes the director of an approved nursing program, until the end of the 2023–24 academic year, or whenever the Governor declares a state of emergency for a county in which an agency or facility used by an approved nursing program for direct patient care clinical practice is no longer available, to submit to a board nursing education consultant requests to, among other things, allow the program to reduce the required number of direct patient care hours to, among other requirements, 50% in geriatrics and medical-surgical, if certain conditions are met. Existing law prohibits the approval of that request after the 2023–24 academic year and makes an approved request expire at the end of that year. This bill would, instead, authorize a director to submit requests for the approved nursing program to reduce the required number of direct patient care hours to 200 hours in medical-surgical, as specified, if certain conditions are met. The bill would remove the prohibition of the approval of that request after the 2023–24 year and the provision making any an approved request expire at the end of that year. If the board requires the approval of the faculty or directors, as specified, existing law authorizes the board to approve an individual to serve as a member of the faculty, director, or assistant director of an approved school of nursing or nursing program. Existing law makes an individual approval valid for 5 years and authorizes an individual approval to be renewed if the individual demonstrates to the board that they continue to meet the requirements established by the board for faculty, directors, and assistant directors of an approved school of nursing or nursing program. This bill would, instead, make only an individual faculty approval valid for 5 years and authorize only an individual faculty approval to be renewed if the individual demonstrates to the board that they continue to meet the requirements established by the board for faculty of an approved school of nursing or nursing program. If an applicant for approval has a faculty position and does not meet a requirement established by the board for a different position, existing law authorizes the board to accept a remediation plan submitted by an approved school of nursing or nursing program to help the applicant meet the requirement, and if the board accepts the plan, to approve the applicant to instruct in theory under the mentorship and supervision of the content expert identified in the plan for up to one year. If an applicant for approval as an assistant director or director does not have a faculty position and does not meet a requirement established by the board for a different position, the bill would authorize the board to accept a remediation plan submitted by an approved school of nursing or nursing program to help the applicant meet the requirement, and if the board accepts the plan, to approve the applicant to serve in the role of the assistant director under the mentorship of a board-approved director or assistant director while completing the remediation plan for up to one year, as specified. (3) Existing law defines the practice of nursing to include specified activities, including the administration of medications ordered by a physician and surgeon, dentist, podiatrist, or clinical psychologist, as specified. This bill would expand the definition of the practice of nursing to include the administration of medications ordered by a nurse practitioner or certified nurse midwife and the administration of medications as directed by an advanced practice registered nurse to the extent allowable by the advanced practice registered nurse's scope of practice. (4) Existing law requires the board to issue a license as a registered nurse to each applicant who passes the examination and meets all other licensing requirements. Existing law requires all examinations to be written, but authorizes exams in the discretion of the board to be supplemented by an oral or practical examination in subjects the board determines. This bill would remove the requirement that all examinations be written, and the authorization for exams to be supplemented by an oral or practical examination in subjects the board determines. Existing law authorizes a registered nurse under current investigation by the board to request entry into an intervention program by contacting the board. Existing law requires each registered nurse who requests participation in an intervention program to agree to cooperate with the rehabilitation program designed by the intervention evaluation committee and approved by the program manager, as defined. This bill would require the committee, in developing the rehabilitation program, to determine whether a participant is required to practice nursing prior to completion of the program. Existing law requires each person renewing their license as a registered nurse to submit proof satisfactory to the board that, during the preceding 2-year period, they have been informed of the developments in the registered nurse field or in any special area of practice engaged in by the licensee, occurring since the last renewal thereof, either by pursuing a course or courses of continuing education in the registered nurse field or relevant to the practice of the licensee, as specified, or by other means deemed equivalent by the board. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2029, require the board to require each licensee to submit the above-described proof at the time of renewal and require the proof to include, but not be limited to, documentation verifying the completion of the continuing education requirements during the preceding renewal period or the preceding 2 years. Existing law authorizes a registered nurse whose license has been revoked or suspended or who has been placed on probation to petition the board for reinstatement or modification of penalty, as specified, subject to specified time periods. This bill would specify that no minimum time period applies if the registered nurse has had their license revoked by default for failure to submit a notice of defense. (5) Existing law requires the board to issue a certificate to practice nurse-midwifery to a person licensed as a registered nurse who meets specified qualifications. Existing law authorizes a certified nurse-midwife to attend cases of low-risk pregnancy and childbirth and to provide certain types of care, including prenatal care. Existing law generally authorizes a certified nurse-midwife to furnish drugs or devices incidentally to the provision of, among other things, the care and services described above. Existing law makes the furnishing or ordering of drugs or devices by a certified nurse-midwife conditional on the issuance by the board of a number to the applicant who has successfully completed certain requirements. Existing law authorizes the board to issue a furnishing number upon initial application and, if approved by the board, prohibits requiring the applicant from having to make a separate application. Existing law authorizes the board to charge an applicant a fee to cover all necessary costs to implement these provisions that is no more than $1,500 for an initial application or $1,000 for a renewal application, and to charge a penalty fee for failure to renew a furnishing number within the prescribed time that is no more than $500. This bill would authorize the board to also issue a furnishing number described above upon renewal application, and would remove the authorization for the board to charge a penalty fee for failure to renew a furnishing number within the prescribed time. The bill would specify that the initial application and renewal application are those for a certificate to practice nurse-midwifery. (6) Existing law, the Nurse Anesthetists Act, which is part of the Nursing Practice Act, requires the board to issue a certificate to practice nurse anesthesia to a person licensed as a registered nurse who meets specified qualifications. Existing law fixes the amounts of fees in connection with the issuance of certificates of nurse anesthetists, including that the fee to be paid upon the filing of an application for a certificate is fixed by the board at not less than $500 and no more than $1,500. This bill would remove the minimum fee amount for the above-described fees. (7) Existing law requires, on and after January 1, 2008, an applicant for initial qualification or certification as a nurse practitioner who has not been qualified or certified as a nurse practitioner in California or any other state to meet certain requirements, including holding a valid and active registered nursing license. Existing law generally authorizes a nurse practitioner to furnish drugs or devices when certain conditions are met, including that the nurse practitioner is functioning pursuant to standardized procedure, as defined, or protocol, as specified. Existing law makes the furnishing or ordering of drugs or devices by a nurse practitioner conditional on the issuance by the board of a number to an applicant who has successfully completed certain requirements. Existing law authorizes the board to issue a furnishing number upon initial application and, if approved by the board, prohibits requiring the applicant from having to make a separate application. Existing law authorizes the board to charge an applicant a fee to cover all necessary costs to implement these provisions that is no more than $1,500 for an initial application or $1,000 for a renewal application, and to charge a penalty fee for failure to renew a furnishing number within the prescribed time that is no more than $500. This bill would authorize the board to also issue a furnishing number described above upon renewal application, and would remove the authorization for the board to charge a penalty fee for failure to renew a furnishing number within the prescribed time. The bill would specify that the initial application and renewal application are those for the qualification or certification as a nurse practitioner. Existing law authorizes a nurse practitioner to perform certain functions, including conducting an advanced assessment, without standardized procedures in accordance with their education and training, as specified, if the nurse practitioner meets certain requirements, including that they have completed a transition to practice in California of a minimum of 3 full-time equivalent years of practice or 4600 hours, as specified. This bill would also authorize the completion of a transition to practice in another state, as described above, for purposes of that requirement. For purposes of a transition to practice completed in another state, the bill would require the board to, among other things, on or before January 1, 2028, identify states where practice experience would meet or exceed the requirements under specified provisions if obtained in this state. (8) Existing law requires a registered nurse applying to be a clinical nurse specialist for the evaluation of their qualifications to use that title to pay a nonrefundable fee of not less than $500 but not exceeding $1,500, and requires a fee to be paid for a temporary certificate to practice as a clinical nurse special to be not less than $30 but no more than $50. Existing law requires a biennial renewal fee to be paid upon submission of an application to renew the clinical nurse specialist certificate, and to be established by the board at no less than $150 and not more than $1,000. Existing law requires the penalty fee for failure to renew a certificate within the prescribed time to be 50% of the renewal fee in effect on the date of the renewal of the license to be not less than $75 and no more than $500. This bill would delete the minimum fee amounts prescribed above. (9) The bill would also make various nonsubstantive changes to various nursing related provisions.
(1) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, clinics, home health agencies, and hospice agencies, as defined, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law provides for the certification of nurse assistants and home health aides by the department. A violation of these provisions by a licensee is a crime. Existing law authorizes the department to deny an application for, initiate an action to suspend or revoke a certificate for, or deny a training and examination application for a nurse assistant or home health aide under specified circumstances. Existing law requires, with some exceptions, the department to deny a training and examination application and deny, suspend, or revoke a certificate if the applicant or certificate holder has been convicted of a violation of or attempted violation of one or more specified crimes. This bill would instead authorize the department to deny an application for, a certificate for, or a training and examination application for, a nurse assistant or home health aide for various reasons, including if an applicant has been convicted of a crime, as specified, within the preceding 7 years from the date of the application that is directly and adversely related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of a certified nurse assistant or home health aide, regardless of whether the applicant was incarcerated for that crime, as specified, and if the applicant has been subjected to formal discipline by the department or a licensing board in or outside California within the preceding 7 years from the date of the application for professional misconduct that would have been cause for discipline, as specified, and that is directly and adversely related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of a certified nurse assistant or home health aide, as specified. The bill would authorize an applicant or certificate holder whose application to be a nurse assistant or home health aide was denied or certificate was suspended or revoked on the basis of a criminal conviction to, during a period of 2 years after the department receives the criminal record report, provide the department with evidence of good character and rehabilitation or provide the department with evidence that the criminal conviction is no longer grounds for denial, as specified. The bill would prescribe requirements for the department in requesting or acting on a nursing assistant or home health aide applicant's criminal history information, including if the department decides to deny a training and examination application or certificate. The bill would authorize the department to initiate an action to suspend or revoke a certificate for professional misconduct warranting cause for discipline, as specified. Upon a determination to revoke or suspend a certificate, the bill would prescribe the requirements for the department to notify the certificate holder in writing by certified mail, including providing information about the procedure for the certificate holder to challenge the determination or request reconsideration. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law governs the certification of a certified nurse assistant in a licensed skilled nursing or intermediate care facility. Existing law requires renewal of that certification to be conditional upon specified occurrences, including that the certificate holder submitted documentation of completion of 48 hours of in-service training every 2 years, as specified. Existing law requires at least 12 of the 48 hours of in-service training to be completed in each of the 2 years. Existing law requires that 24 of the 48 hours may be obtained through a specified online computer training program. In order to renew an unexpired certificate, existing law requires the certificate holder to, on or before the expiration date, apply for renewal on a form provided by the department and to submit documentation of the required in-service training. Existing law authorizes an expired certificate to be renewed at any time within 2 years of its expiration on the filing of an application for renewal on a form provided by the department and documentation of the required in-service education. This bill would additionally authorize the certificate holder to submit documentation of 48 hours of continuing education every 2 years. The bill would require at least 12 of the 48 hours of continuous education or in-service training to be completed in each of the 2 years. The bill would authorize the 48 continuing education or in-service hours to be obtained through in-person instructions, synchronous online instruction, asynchronous online instruction, or other distance learning formats approved by the department. This bill would require, to renew an unexpired certificate, or authorize, to renew an expired certificate within 2 years after expiration, the certificate holder to submit documentation of the continuing education or in-service training. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law authorizes a school district, county office of education, or charter school to provide emergency stock albuterol inhalers, as specified, to school nurses or trained personnel who have volunteered, and authorizes school nurses or trained personnel to use an emergency stock albuterol inhaler to provide emergency medical aid to persons suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from respiratory distress, as provided. Existing law authorizes a prescription for emergency stock albuterol inhalers to be filled by local or mail order pharmacies or stock albuterol inhaler manufacturers. This bill would revise and recast that latter provision by making its provisions also apply to a childcare program, as defined, that is operated by or contracts with a school district, county office of education, or charter school, as provided. This bill would explicitly authorize a pharmacy to furnish stock albuterol inhalers to a local educational agency pursuant to a written order from an authorized prescriber. The bill would authorize a prescription for emergency stock albuterol inhalers also to be filled by stock albuterol wholesalers or distributers. The bill, for purposes of these provisions, would change references from the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the Education Commissioner in order to implement changes made by AB 181 of the 2025–26 Regular Session.
(1) Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, establishes the Board of Registered Nursing to license and regulate the practice of nursing. Existing law requires an applicant for licensure as a registered nurse to comply with specified education and other requirements. This bill would also require an applicant for licensure as a registered nurse to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check, would require the board to submit to the Department of Justice (department) fingerprint images and related information for applicants, and would require the department to provide a state- and federal-level response, as specified. (2) Existing law requires the department to maintain state summary criminal history information, as defined, and to furnish this information to various state and local government officers and officials, as well as other prescribed entities, including, among others, a city, county, city and county, or district, if needed in the course of their duties. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to furnish state summary criminal history information and, if authorized, federal-level criminal history information, upon a showing of a compelling need, to specified entities, including, among others, peace officers of the United States, other states, or territories or possessions of the United States. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to furnish criminal history information to a person who is not authorized by law to receive it. This bill would instead make those provisions applicable to a city, county, city and county, or governmental district. The bill would also authorize the Attorney General to provide that information to peace officers of tribes in other states under the same conditions. The bill would prescribe a procedure by which a city, county, city and county, or governmental district submit fingerprint images and related information to the department. The bill would make a release of information by the department under these provisions subject to specified federal regulations. By expanding access to criminal history information, this bill would expand a crime and therefore impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires employees, prospective employees, volunteers, contractors, and subcontractors of a criminal justice agency to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check. Existing law requires the department to provide a state- and federal-level response, as specified. This bill would make that provision, with regard to a volunteer, contractor, or subcontractor, only applicable to a volunteer, contractor, or subcontractor who either provides services for the administration of criminal justice or has direct or remote access to the criminal justice agency's systems or unescorted access to a criminal justice agency's facilities. (4) Existing law requires employees of entities that have contracts with a private school or heritage school and provide services, including schoolsite administrative or grounds, landscape maintenance, and instruction, to provide their fingerprints to the department, as specified. Existing law requires employees of an entity that contracts with a local educational agency to complete a criminal background check, as specified. Under existing law, a county, city, city and county, or special district is required to have specified prospective employees or volunteers complete a background check that inquires as to whether the applicant has been convicted of certain offenses. Existing law also requires the submission of fingerprints to the department for certifying a massage professional, licensing a professional fiduciary, registering a tax preparer, confirming the appointment of a humane officer, working for a bank or its affiliates, and licensing an escrow agent, as specified. Existing law requires the department to ascertain whether the individual whose fingerprints were submitted has been arrested or convicted of a crime and notify the employer if the person has been convicted of specified felonies. Existing law authorizes the department to notify specified entities of pending criminal proceedings. This bill would instead require those background checks to be submitted pursuant to the provisions above and would make conforming changes. (5) Existing law authorizes a human resource agency, as defined, or a nonprofit corporation or other organization specified by the Attorney General that employs or uses the services of volunteers in positions in which the volunteer or employee has supervisory or disciplinary power over a child or children to request from the department records of all convictions or any arrest pending adjudication involving specified offenses of a person who applies for a license, employment, or volunteer position in which they would have supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor or any person under their care. This bill would revise and recast those provisions to instead allow a qualified entity, as defined, to require a covered individual, as defined, to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check and would authorize a qualified entity to get a subsequent arrest notification pursuant to the provisions above. By expanding access to criminal history information, this bill would expand a crime and therefore impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make any statutory requirement for an entity to conduct a federal criminal history information check for licensing, certification, or employment purposes inapplicable until the Federal Bureau of Investigation authorizes the entity to conduct a federal criminal history information check, as specified. If the Federal Bureau of Investigation authorizes an entity to conduct a federal criminal history information check, the bill would require the entity to require an applicant, licensee, certified individual, or employee who did not previously undergo a federal criminal history information check to resubmit their fingerprints for that purpose. (6) Existing law requires an application used to determine the eligibility to own a firearm to include 2 copies of the applicant's fingerprints. This bill would instead require an applicant for a certificate of eligibility and a dangerous weapons license or permit issued by the department, including, among other weapons, an assault weapon or short-barreled shotgun, to submit to the department fingerprint images and related information for purposes of conducting a state and national criminal history background check, as specified, and for the purpose of determining if the applicant is prohibited by state or federal law from possessing, receiving, owning, or purchasing a firearm. The bill would require the department to retain the fingerprint impressions for subsequent arrest notification, as specified. (7) Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to screen all providers and designate each provider as "limited," "moderate," or "high" categorical risk. For all providers designated as a "high" categorical risk, existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services, or its designee, to conduct a criminal background check and require specified individuals to submit a set of fingerprints within 30 days of the State Department of Health Care Services's request in a manner specified by the State Department of Health Care Services. This bill would instead add the State Department of Public Health in place of the State Department of Health Care Services's authority to have a designee for these purposes. The bill would require, as an alternative to the State Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of Public Health to prescribe the manner by which a person submits their fingerprints. (8) Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to require that specified applicants, providers, and individuals submit fingerprint images and related information for purposes of a state and federal criminal background check and prescribes a procedure for the State Department of Health Care Services and the department to follow for these purposes. This bill would also add the State Department of Public Health to this requirement and procedure as an alternative to the State Department of Health Care Services and would instead require the information be submitted for specified individuals who are subject to a state and national criminal history background checks. The bill would define "applicant" and "provider" for these purposes. (9) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to license and regulate community care facilities, residential care facilities for persons with chronic, life-threatening illness, residential care facilities for the elderly, and childcare centers. Existing law requires the department to obtain a criminal record for all applicants for licenses for these facilities and services and specified other employees and officers of these facilities, including, among others, adults responsible for the administration or direct supervision of staff, a staff person, volunteer, or employee who has contact with clients, and, if the applicant is a firm, partnership, association, or corporation, the chief executive officer or other person serving in a like capacity. This bill would expand the list of individuals to include, among others, an administrator, supervisor, manager, or director of the facility, or an individual acting in those roles, an adult responsible for the operation of the facility, and a person with a 10% or greater financial interest in the applicant. The bill would clarify that a staff person, volunteer, or employee who has direct contact with clients includes adults and minors. The bill would also include limited liability companies in the list of applicant types to which these provisions apply. By expanding access to criminal history information, this bill would expand a crime and therefore impose a state-mandated local program. (10) Existing law authorizes specified governmental entities to require employees, prospective employees, volunteers, contractors, and subcontractors to undergo fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background checks. Existing law establishes the Business and Consumer Services Agency, the California Housing and Homelessness Agency, and the Housing Development and Finance Committee. Existing law sets forth the general responsibilities and roles of the California Housing Finance Agency, the California Housing and Homelessness Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Housing Development and Finance Committee in carrying out state housing policies and programs. This bill would authorize the Housing Development and Finance Committee to require an employee, prospective employee, volunteer, contractor, or subcontractor to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check, as specified. The bill would require the department to provide a state- and federal-level response. By expanding access to criminal history information, this bill would expand a crime and therefore impose a state-mandated local program. (11) Existing law, the Yacht and Ship Brokers Act, prohibits a person from, among other things, acting as a broker or salesperson for the purchase or sale of a yacht without a license. The act authorizes the issuance of a temporary license to a salesperson under specified conditions. The act requires an applicant for a broker or salesperson license to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check. This bill would authorize a temporary license to be issued to a broker. The bill would also authorize the Deputy Director of Boating and Waterways to extend the term of a temporary license or issue a new temporary license to provide an applicant for a broker or salesperson license time to comply with the criminal history background requirement, as specified. (12) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 44237 of the Education Code proposed by SB 685 to be operative only if this bill and SB 685 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (13) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 11105 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 2001 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2001 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (14) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (15) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the Medi-Cal Act, establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. Under existing law, early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment (EPSDT) services, including private duty nursing services, are covered under Medi-Cal for an individual under 21 years of age in accordance with certain federal provisions. The Medi-Cal program is in part governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. This bill would require the department to measure and assess whether private duty nursing services provided as part of the EPSDT benefit are in compliance with federal Medicaid requirements, as specified. The bill would require the assessment to include a comparison of the hours of EPSDT private duty nursing services authorized by the Medi-Cal program to the hours actually provided to eligible beneficiary children and a determination of whether the reimbursement rates for those services are sufficient to ensure that all authorized hours are able to be provided. The bill would require the department to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the findings of the assessment by no later than March 1, 2027.
This Senate Resolution highlights the importance of medically supportive food and nutrition services, often called "food as medicine," in improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare costs for Californians. It notes that these services, which include medically tailored meals and groceries, are already a key part of the state's Medi-Cal program and have been shown to lower emergency room visits and hospitalizations. The resolution emphasizes the value of these programs in addressing diet-related health issues and encourages continued collaboration among healthcare providers and community organizations to expand access. Additionally, it supports sourcing food from local farms to benefit the economy and environment while ensuring high-quality, culturally relevant care for patients.
Existing law establishes the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, administered by the California Health and Human Services Agency and its departments, as applicable. Under existing law, the purpose of the initiative is to transform the state's behavioral health system into an innovative ecosystem in which all children and youth 25 years of age and younger, regardless of payer, are screened, supported, and served for emerging and existing behavioral health needs. Existing law requires, as a part of the initiative, the State Department of Health Care Services to develop and maintain a school-linked statewide fee schedule for outpatient mental health or substance use disorder treatment provided to a student who is 25 years of age or younger at a schoolsite. Existing law requires providers of medically necessary schoolsite services to be reimbursed by health care service plans, insurers, and Medi-Cal managed care plans, at a minimum, at the fee schedule rate or rates, regardless of network provider status. This bill would establish the Fee Schedule Intensive Technical Support for Onboarding Program. The bill would require the State Department of Education, upon appropriation and subject to the terms of the appropriation, to select through a competitive process, and, no later than July 1 of the year after an appropriation is made to fund the program, allocate funding to, a local educational agency that will serve as the lead entity that will administer the program over a 3-year period, as provided. The bill would require the lead entity, in coordination with the State Department of Education and the State Department of Health Care Services, to, no later than November 1 of the year after an appropriation is made to fund the program, select up to 25 entities to participate in the program and prioritize certain applicants, including, among others, applicants who will increase the number and amount of statewide fee schedule reimbursements. The bill would require that an entity meet specified criteria in order to be eligible to participate in the program, including, among other things, that the entity has past experience in serving children and youth that are of the age that the entity intends to serve. The bill would require a participating entity, as a condition of participation, to commit to increasing, among other things, the number of transition-age youth 16 to 25 years of age receiving behavioral health services. The bill would require the lead entity, starting on or before December 1 of the year after an appropriation is made to fund the program, and ending no earlier than 3 years after the program begins, to provide intensive technical assistance and support with regard to specified activities to the participating entities. The bill would require the lead entity to submit a progress report on or before September 1 of the year that is 3 years after an appropriation is made to fund the program, and submit a summative report by January 1 of the year that is 4 years after an appropriation is made to fund the program, regarding the program to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.
Existing law establishes the Emergency Medical Services Authority within the California Health and Human Services Agency, and requires the authority to coordinate state activities concerning emergency medical services. Existing law requires a public safety agency that provides "911" call processing services for emergency medical response, by January 1, 2027, to provide prearrival medical instructions to "911" callers requiring medical assistance, including, at a minimum, administration of naloxone for suspected narcotics overdoses. Existing law requires the authority to develop and adopt training, standards, and regulations for all prehospital emergency medical care personnel regarding the use and administration of naloxone hydrochloride and other opioid antagonists. Existing law makes any person who violates these provisions guilty of a misdemeanor. Existing law grants the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is within the Department of Industrial Relations, jurisdiction over all employment and places of employment, and the power necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and standards. Exiting law requires the division, before December 1, 2027, to submit a draft rulemaking proposal to revise specified regulations on first aid materials and emergency medical services to require first aid materials in a workplace to include naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to reverse opioid overdose and instructions for using the opioid antagonist. Existing law requires the standards board to consider for adoption revised standards for the standards described above on or before December 1, 2028. This bill would require an employer operating in this state that requires cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification training of its employees to also require those employees, except as specified, to take an online video module training on the use of naloxone to increase the rate of opioid overdose reversals, as prescribed. Because a violation of this provision would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Emergency Medical Services Authority to review and approve the online video module trainings to ensure that the training content meets certain minimum standards. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age. The Early Education Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to, among other things, provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program. Under both acts, the cost to a provider agency of providing an early childhood mental health consultation service is reimbursable if certain requirements are met, including that the consultation service uses a relationship-based model that includes specified components, including, among others, that, at least twice per program year, early care- and education setting-based mental health assessments are conducted and that there is, with the consent of parents or legal guardians, at least one screening of each enrolled child for adverse childhood experiences and screening for buffering factors. This bill would remove the requirement that the consultation service use a relationship-based model that includes those components in order to be reimbursable and would instead require that, in order to be reimbursable, the consultation service, among other things, uses a relationship-based model that incorporates, at least once per school or program year, an early care and education classroom observation tool that includes measures on the classroom environment, social-emotional learning climate, and teacher and child interactions to guide the specific activities and support the consultant will provide.
