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 and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law authorizes the Director of Health Care Services to contract, on a bid or nonbid basis, with any qualified individual, organization, or entity to provide services to, arrange for or case manage the care of Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Existing law authorizes the renewal of a contract if the provider continues to meet the requirements of the Medi-Cal program and the contract. Under existing law, failure to meet those requirements is cause for nonrenewal of the contract. Existing law authorizes the department to terminate or decline to renew a contract, in whole or in part, if the director determines that the action is necessary to protect the health of the beneficiaries or the funds appropriated to carry out the Medi-Cal program. Under existing law, one of the methods by which Medi-Cal services are provided is pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care plans. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2019, requires a Medi-Cal managed care plan to comply with a minimum 85% medical loss ratio. Existing law requires, effective for contract rating periods commencing on or after July 1, 2023, a Medi-Cal managed care plan to provide a remittance to the state if the ratio does not meet the minimum ratio of 85% for the corresponding reporting year. This bill would authorize the department to terminate a for-profit Medi-Cal managed care plan contract if the Attorney General determines that the Medi-Cal managed care plan engaged or engages in anticompetitive conduct or practices, as specified, or if the department determines that the Medi-Cal managed care plan has a pattern or practice of not complying with the medical loss ratio, as described above. The bill would specify that nonrenewal of a contract under these provisions would not qualify the applicant for an administrative hearing. The bill would apply these provisions only to new contracts, and renewals of existing contracts, executed on or after January 1, 2019.
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(1) The California Endangered Species Act (CESA) prohibits the taking of an endangered or threatened species, except as specified. Under CESA, the Department of Fish and Wildlife may authorize, by permit, the take of listed species if the take is incidental to an otherwise lawful activity and the impacts are minimized and fully mitigated. Existing law prohibits the taking or possession of a fully protected fish, except as provided, and designates the Lost River sucker and the shortnose sucker as fully protected fish. This bill would permit the department to authorize, under CESA, the take or possession of the Lost River sucker and shortnose sucker resulting from impacts attributable to or otherwise related to the decommissioning and removal of the Iron Gate Dam, the Copco 1 Dam, the Copco 2 Dam, or the J.C. Boyle Dam, each located on the Klamath River, consistent with the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, if specified conditions are met. (2) The federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) directs federal agencies, in consultation with the United States Secretary of the Interior or the United States Secretary of Commerce, as appropriate, to carry out conservation programs for endangered or threatened species listed under ESA. ESA generally prohibits activities affecting these threatened and endangered species unless authorized by a permit from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service, as appropriate. ESA provides for enhancement of survival permits to allow actions necessary for the establishment and maintenance of experimental populations designated pursuant to ESA. Existing law provides that a person who obtains a federal enhancement of survival permit that authorizes the taking of an endangered or threatened species that is also listed as an endangered, threatened, or candidate species under CESA, in order to establish or maintain an experimental population of the species pursuant to ESA, requires no further authorization or approval under CESA for that person to take that species as identified in, and in accordance with, the enhancement of survival permit, if specified requirements are met. Existing law also authorizes the incidental take of an endangered, threatened, or candidate species that is designated as an experimental population under ESA, without the need for further authorization or approval under CESA, if specified requirements are met. Existing law prohibits the taking or possession of a fully protected bird, except as provided, and designates the California condor as a fully protected bird. Existing law authorizes the department to carry out a California condor preservation project that has objectives including habitat protection, field research, a captive breeding program, and a condor release program. Existing law requires the department, jointly with a specified federal-state condor recovery team established pursuant to ESA, to develop a plan to respond to these objectives. This bill would provide that if the take of California condors under the Northern California Condor Restoration Program, as defined, is exempt from further authorization or approval under CESA based on acquisition of a federal enhancement of survival permit or based on a federal experimental population designation, and the Director of Fish and Wildlife finds the permit or designation, as applicable, to be consistent with the objectives and plans of the California condor preservation project, the take or possession of California condors under the Northern California Condor Restoration Program shall also be exempt from the above-described prohibitions against the taking or possession of any fully protected bird.
Existing law requires any person, or federal, state, or local agency, district, or authority that owns or manages a reservoir, as defined, where recreational, boating, or fishing activities are permitted, except a privately owned reservoir that is not open to the public, to assess the vulnerability of the reservoir for the introduction of nonnative dreissenid mussel species and to develop and implement a program designed to prevent the introduction of that species, as prescribed. Existing law requires the owner of a vessel, as described, to register the vessel in accordance with prescribed requirements governing the registration and transfer of vessels. Existing law establishes a registration fee for vessels, and imposes an additional fee, known as the quagga and zebra mussel infestation prevention fee, in specified amounts, as determined by the Division of Boating and Waterways in the Department of Parks and Recreation, on a vessel required to pay that fee. Existing law requires that all revenues from the additional prevention fee be deposited into the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund, and, upon appropriation, be expended for certain purposes relating to the prevention, control, and management of dreissenid mussel infestations. Existing law requires that a specified percentage of those revenues deposited into the fund from the prevention fee be made available to entities subject to the above-described requirements for reservoirs to be used for grants for the reasonable regulatory costs incident to the implementation of a dreissenid mussel infestation prevention plan. This bill would additionally make any person or entity that manages any aspect of the water in a reservoir, as defined, where recreational, boating, or fishing activities are permitted, eligible for a grant to be used for the reasonable regulatory costs of implementation of a dreissenid mussel infestation prevention plan.
Existing law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities and authorizes persons to conduct specified commercial cannabis activities, as defined, in the state. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various deductions in computing the income that is subject to the taxes imposed by those laws. The Personal Income Tax Law conforms as of a specified date to federal income tax laws with respect to itemized deductions, including business deductions and items not deductible, except as specifically provided. The Corporation Tax Law does not conform to those federal income tax provisions, but specifically provides for deductions for purposes of that law. The Personal Income Tax Law, by conformity to federal income tax laws, disallows a deduction or credit for business expenses of a trade or business whose activities consist of trafficking specified controlled substances, including marijuana. This bill, for each taxable year beginning on and after January 1, 2018, would specifically provide in the Personal Income Tax Law for nonconformity to that federal law disallowing a deduction or credit for business expenses of a trade or business whose activities consist of trafficking specified controlled substances, only for commercial cannabis activity, as defined under MAUCRSA, by a licensee under MAUCRSA, thus allowing deduction of business expenses for a cannabis trade or business under the Personal Income Tax Law, as provided. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law, the California Retail Food Code, establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities for regulation by the State Department of Public Health, and requires local enforcement agencies to enforce those provisions. Existing law defines "food facility" as an operation that stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human consumption at the retail level, as specified. Existing law defines "limited food preparation" for the purposes of the code. A violation of the California Retail Food Code is generally a misdemeanor. This bill would include a catering operation and a host facility within the definition of a food facility. The bill would define "catering operation" as a food service that is conducted by a permanent food facility approved for food preparation where food is served, or limited food preparation is conducted, at a location other than its permitted location, whether as part of a contracted offsite food service event or when operating in conjunction with a host facility with direct food sales. The bill would define "host facility" as a facility located in a brewery, winery, or commercial building, or another location as approved by the local enforcement agency, that meets applicable requirements to support a catering operation, as specified, and that has a permit pursuant to specified provisions. The bill would impose various requirements on a catering operation relating to food safety, storage, transportation, and other circumstances, and would require the catering operation to submit to the enforcement agency written standard operating procedures and, upon request, records for its offsite food services activities, with specified information. The bill would impose various requirements on a host facility relating to, among other things, the plan review process, which includes a list of catering operations that will be supported by the host facility, among other information. The bill would authorize the enforcement agency to establish additional structural or operational requirements, as specified, to ensure the sanitary operation of a host facility. The bill would also include a catering operation as an authorized food facility for purposes of certain provisions relating to an open-air barbecue and an outdoor wood-burning oven. The bill would include the holding, portioning, or dispensing of foods by a catering operation for a host facility within, and exclude the handling, manufacturing, freezing, processing, or packaging of specified milk, milk products, or products resembling milk products from, the definition of "limited food preparation." Existing law requires every food facility to maintain on the premises the label for any food or food additive that is, or includes, any fat, oil, or shortening, as specified, and prohibits any food containing artificial trans fat from being stored, distributed, or served by, or used in the preparation of any food within, a food facility. This bill would repeal those provisions and make technical, conforming changes. By imposing new duties on local officials and expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 113789 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by AB 626 and AB 2178 to be operative only if this bill and AB 626, this bill and AB 2178, or all 3 bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law provides for the regulation of health care practitioners and requires prescription drugs to be ordered and dispensed in accordance with the Pharmacy Law. The Pharmacy Law provides that a prescription is an oral, written, or electronic data transmission order and requires electronic data transmission prescriptions to be transmitted and processed in accordance with specified requirements. This bill, on and after January 1, 2022, would require health care practitioners authorized to issue prescriptions to have the capability to transmit electronic data transmission prescriptions, and would require pharmacies to have the capability to receive those transmissions. The bill would require those health care practitioners to issue prescriptions as an electronic data transmission prescription, unless specified exceptions are met. The bill would not require the pharmacy to verify that a written, oral, or faxed prescription satisfies the specified exemptions. The bill would require the pharmacy receiving the electronic data transmission prescription to immediately notify the prescriber if the electronic data transmission prescription fails, is incomplete, or is otherwise not appropriately received. The bill would require the pharmacy to transfer or forward the prescription to another pharmacy at the request of the patient, as specified. The bill would exempt from these provisions a health care practitioner, pharmacist, or pharmacy when providing health care services to specified individuals under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The bill would require that a health care practitioner, pharmacist, or pharmacy who fails to meet the applicable requirements imposed by this bill be referred to the appropriate state professional licensing board solely for administrative sanctions, as provided.
Existing law requires the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation to keep up to date a comprehensive plan for the development of the outdoor recreation resources of the state for purposes of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965. Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake, for the purposes of discussion, reviewing research, planning, and providing oversight regarding the health of Clear Lake. This bill would establish in the agency the Office of Sustainable Outdoor Recreation. The bill would require the office to undertake certain activities, including supporting the outdoor recreation economy of the state by engaging in specified activities. The bill would also require the office to create an advisory committee to provide advice, expertise, support, and service to the office. The bill would authorize the office to receive assistance and funds from public and private sources, and would require that the moneys received by the office pursuant to this provision or appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of the bill be deposited in the California Sustainable Outdoor Recreation Account, which the bill would create within the Office of the Secretary of Natural Resources. The bill would require, before the office could commence any program development activities pursuant to the bill, that an amount sufficient to administer at least 50% of the first fiscal year of the office's activities be deposited in the California Sustainable Outdoor Recreation Account.
Existing law requires each applicant for a license to operate a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility to disclose to the State Department of Public Health, among other things, the names and addresses of any person or organization, or both, having an ownership or control interest of 5% or more in a management company that operates, or is proposed to operate, the facility. Existing law requires an organization that operates, conducts, owns, or maintains a health facility, and the officers of the health facility, to make and file with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, at the times as the office requires, a report that includes certain accounting information, including, but not limited to, a balance sheet detailing assets, liabilities, and net worth of the health facility, a statement of income, expenses, and operating surplus or deficit, and a statement of cashflows. Existing law provides civil penalties for a violation of that provision. As part of that report, effective January 1, 2020, this bill would require an organization that operates, conducts, owns, or maintains a skilled nursing facility to additionally report to the office whether the licensee, or a general partner, director, or officer of the licensee, has an ownership or control interest of 5% or more in a related party, as defined, that provides any service to the skilled nursing facility. The bill would specifically require the licensee under those circumstances to disclose all services provided to the skilled nursing facility, the number of individuals who provide that service at the skilled nursing facility, and any other information requested by the office. If goods, fees, and services collectively worth $10,000 or more per year are to be delivered to the skilled nursing facility, the bill would require the disclosure to include the related party's profit and loss statement and the Payroll-Based Journal public use data of the previous quarter for the skilled nursing facility's direct caregivers.
This measure would urge the Congress and the President of the United States to support the retention of, and investment in, the Amtrak National Network of passenger trains, specifically the California Zephyr, the Coast Starlight, the Southwest Chief, and the Sunset Limited, as vital components of the state's rail program and would also urge Congress to reject President Trump's proposed Fiscal Year 2019 federal budget cuts to Amtrak and restore full funding for the Amtrak National Network through the appropriations process.
This measure would recognize the impact opioid-related deaths have had on California communities and would support groups and organizations working in California to combat the epidemic.