Asm. Tony Thurmond

The federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the California Building Standards Code require that specified buildings, structures, and facilities be accessible to, and usable by, persons with disabilities. Existing law establishes a Disability Access and Education Revolving Fund within the Division of the State Architect for purposes of increasing disability access and compliance with construction-related accessibility requirements and developing educational resources for businesses to facilitate compliance with federal and state disability laws, as specified. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change.

This measure would declare the month of January 2016 as Pet Care Education Month and would request Californians to observe the month by ensuring that their companion animals receive the proper preventative care by establishing a financial plan for pet health emergencies and by contributing to charitable organizations that provide low-cost spay and neuter services and vaccinations or funds to help low-income individuals pay for veterinary care.

(1) Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services are provided to qualified, low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Existing law requires the department to develop and implement a Medi-Cal inpatient hospital reimbursement payment methodology based on diagnosis-related groups, subject to federal approval, that reflects the costs and staffing levels associated with quality of care for patients in all general acute care hospitals, as specified. Existing law generally requires the diagnosis-related group-based payments to apply to all claims. This bill would require claims for payments pursuant to the inpatient hospital reimbursement methodology described above to be increased by 16% for the 2015–16 fiscal year, and would require, commencing July 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, the department to increase each diagnosis-related group payment claim amount based, at a minimum, on increases in the medical component of the California Consumer Price Index. Commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year, and annually thereafter, the bill would require managed care rates for Medi-Cal managed care health plans to be increased by a proportionately equal amount for increased payments for hospital services. (2) Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments to be reduced by 1% or 5%, and provider payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 1%, for dates of service on and after March 1, 2009, and until June 1, 2011. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments and payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 10% for dates of service on and after June 1, 2011. This bill would, instead, prohibit the application of those reductions for payments to providers for dates of service on or after June 1, 2011. The bill would also require payments for managed care health plans for dates of service following the effective date of the bill to be determined without application of some of those reductions. The bill would require the Director of Health Care Services to implement this provision to the maximum extent permitted by federal law and for the maximum time period for which the director obtains federal approval for federal financial participation for those payments. (3) Prior law required, beginning January 1, 2013, through and including December 31, 2014, that payments for primary care services provided by specified physicians be no less than 100% of the payment rate that applies to those services and physicians as established by the Medicare program, for both fee-for-service and managed care plans. This bill, commencing January 1, 2016, would require payments for specified medical care services to not be less than 100% of the payment rate that applies to those services as established by the Medicare program for services rendered by fee-for-service providers, and would require rates paid to Medi-Cal managed care plans to be actuarially equivalent to payment rates established by the Medicare program. The bill, commencing January 1, 2016, would require rates paid to Denti-Cal providers for dental services provided to adults and children to be increased by the equivalent percentage as the percentage increase required for other fee-for-service Medi-Cal providers. The bill would require those provisions to be implemented only to the extent permitted by federal law and that federal financial participation is available. The bill would authorize the department to implement those provisions through provider bulletins without taking regulatory action until regulations are adopted, and would require the department to adopt those regulations by July 1, 2018. The bill would require, commencing July 1, 2016, the department to provide a status report to the Legislature on a semiannual basis until regulations have been adopted. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law provides for the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (SSP) , which requires the State Department of Social Services to contract with the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments to SSP recipients to supplement Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments made available pursuant to the federal Social Security Act. Under existing law, benefit payments under the SSP are calculated by establishing the maximum level of nonexempt income and federal SSI and state SSP benefits for each category of eligible recipient. The state SSP payment is the amount, when added to the nonexempt income and SSI benefits available to the recipient, which would be required to provide the maximum benefit payment. This bill, for the 2015–16 fiscal year, and annually thereafter, would require the state maximum SSP grant for individuals to be readjusted and increased so that the state SSP payment and federal SSI payment, when combined, equal 112% of the federal poverty level. By increasing the amount of SSP payments, which are expended from a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.

Existing law generally requires that felonies punishable by imprisonment in a county jail be punished either by the term described in the underlying offense or by a term of 16 months, or 2 or 3 years if the term is not specified. Existing law requires an executed sentence for these felonies to be punished in state prison if the defendant has a prior or current felony conviction for a serious or violent felony, is required to register as a sex offender, or is convicted of a crime for which the white collar crime enhancement is imposed as part of the sentence. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, and requires regional centers to identify and pursue all possible sources of funding for consumers receiving those services. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.

Existing law requires each hospital to annually adopt and update a community benefits plan for providing community benefits either alone, in conjunction with other health care providers, or through other organizational arrangements. Each hospital is also required to annually submit its community benefits plan, including a description of the activities that the hospital has undertaken in order to address community needs within its mission and financial capacity, to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. Existing law provides that these requirements are not to be construed to authorize or require specific formats for hospital needs assessments, community benefit plans, or reports until specified recommendations are considered and enacted by the Legislature. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to this provision.

(1) Existing law requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal for each needy pupil during each schoolday, except as specified. Existing law authorizes a school district or county office of education to use funds made available through any applicable federal or state program or to use its own funds to provide the required meals. This bill would express legislative findings and declarations relating to the federal School Breakfast Program. The bill, from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017, inclusive, would require each school district or county office of education maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to make a nutritionally adequate breakfast available for all of the pupils in a school, when at least 40% of the pupils enrolled at the school are needy children, as defined. On and after July 1, 2017, these requirements would apply only to schools where at least 40%, but less than 60%, of the pupils enrolled in that school are needy children. The bill, from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018, inclusive, with respect to schools where at least 60% of the pupils enrolled at the school are needy children, would additionally require these nutritionally adequate breakfasts to be available to pupils after instruction has begun for the schoolday, as defined. On and after July 1, 2018, these requirements would apply only to schools where at least 60%, but less than 80%, of the pupils enrolled in that school are needy children. The bill, on and after July 1, 2018, with respect to schools where at least 80% of the pupils enrolled at the school are needy children, would additionally require these nutritionally adequate breakfasts to be available to pupils, at no cost to the pupil, after instruction has begun for the schoolday, as defined. The bill would also specify that these provisions shall not be construed to require a school to set aside instructional time for the purpose of serving breakfast. To the extent that this bill would create new duties for school districts and county offices of education, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. (2) 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.