Asm. Jim Wood

Maddy summaryThis bill designates the week of October 6 through October 12, 2024, as National 4-H Week throughout California. It directly affects the nearly 6 million young people participating in the 4-H youth development program and the volunteers who support them. The resolution formally recognizes the organization's role in fostering leadership skills and encourages the celebration of 4-H's contributions to health, science, and civic engagement during that specific week.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates September 2024 as Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month in California to highlight the disease's impact, particularly on African American communities. It encourages the state to allocate funds for outreach, education, research, and treatment while also calling for the development of chronic kidney disease screening programs with genetic testing referrals. The resolution aims to raise public knowledge about the condition and support better care outcomes for those affected.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates specific periods in 2024 as Boat People Awareness Week and Month to honor Vietnamese refugees who fled their country by sea after the Vietnam War. The resolution highlights the historical hardships these individuals faced, including dangerous voyages and high mortality rates, while acknowledging their significant contributions to communities across California. It does not create new laws or funding but serves as a commemorative measure to recognize the resilience and spirit of the Vietnamese refugee community. The text is intended to be shared with the bill's author for public distribution to raise awareness about this historical event.

Maddy summaryThis bill recognizes August 15, 2024, as India's Independence Day and encourages all Californians to participate in celebrations honoring the occasion. It directly affects the residents of California, particularly the state's large Indian American community, by formally acknowledging the historical significance of the date when India gained independence from British rule. The measure does not create new laws or change government operations; instead, it serves as a symbolic gesture to highlight the cultural contributions of Indian Americans and the shared values of democracy and nonviolence between the two nations.

This measure would declare the month of June 2024 to be Portuguese Heritage Month and would recognize June 10 as the Day of Portugal and May 20 as the Day of the Azores.

Maddy summaryThis bill officially recognizes June 21, 2024, as the 2024 International Day of Yoga within the state of California. It does not create new laws or change existing regulations but serves as a formal acknowledgment of the global event. The measure is intended to highlight the history and benefits of yoga as a wellness practice.

This measure would designate the week of June 23, 2024, to June 29, 2024, inclusive, and every third week of June thereafter, as Roadside Assistance Worker Appreciation Week.

Existing law establishes the Center for Data Insights and Innovation within the California Health and Human Services Agency to ensure the enforcement of state law mandating the confidentiality of medical information. Existing law, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, requires the California Health and Human Services Agency to establish the California Health and Human Services Data Exchange Framework on or before July 1, 2022, to govern and require the exchange of health information among health care entities and government agencies. This bill would require the Center for Data Insights and Innovation to take over establishment, implementation, and all the functions related to the California Health and Human Services Data Exchange Framework on or before January 1, 2024, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act. The bill would require the center to establish the CalHHS Data Exchange Board, with specified membership, to develop recommendations and to review, modify, and approve any modifications to the Data Exchange Framework data sharing agreement, among other things. The bill would require the center to submit an annual report to the Legislature that includes required signatory compliance with the data sharing agreement, assessment of consumer experiences with health information exchange, and evaluation of technical assistance and other grant programs. The bill would require the center, by July 1, 2024, to establish a process to designate qualified health information organizations according to specified criteria.

Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency, which includes departments charged with the administration of health, social, and other human services. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care under the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, and the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law sets forth requirements for provider credentialing by a health care service plan or health insurer. A violation of the requirements of the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 by a health care service plan is a crime. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to create and maintain a physician credentialing board, with specified membership, and would require the board, on or before July 1, 2027, to develop a standardized credentialing form to be used by all health care service plans and health insurers. The bill would require every health care service plan or health insurer to use the standardized credentialing form, as specified. The bill would not apply the standardized form requirements to specified Medi-Cal managed care contracts with the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law, for provider contracts issued, amended, or renewed on and after January 1, 2023, requires a health care service plan or disability insurer that provides coverage for mental health and substance use disorders and that credentials health care providers of those services for its networks to assess and verify the qualifications of a health care provider within 60 days after receiving a completed provider credentialing application, and to notify the applicant within 7 business days of receipt of the application to verify receipt and inform the applicant whether the application is complete. This bill, for provider contracts issued, amended, or renewed on and after January 1, 2026, would impose the same requirements on all health care service plans and health insurers that credential health care providers for their networks. Because violation of certain requirements of the bill by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 establishes the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) to oversee health planning and health policy research, including the health care workforce research and data center. Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, establishes the Board of Registered Nursing within the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure and regulation of nurses. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities and clinics, as defined, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires an organization that operates, conducts, owns, or maintains a health facility, and the officers thereof, to make and file with HCAI certain reports, including balance sheets and other financial statements. Existing law sets forth related reporting provisions for clinics. This bill would require a health facility or a clinic, whether or not it currently offers prelicensure clinical placement slots, to meet with representatives from an approved school of nursing or approved nursing program, upon request by the school or program, to discuss the clinical placement needs of the school or program. The bill would require a nursing school or program to annually prepare a report on clinical placements for nursing students and to submit it to the board, with updates. The bill would require the report to include the beginning and end dates of all academic terms within the subsequent calendar year for each clinical slot needed by a clinical group with content area and education level, and the number of clinical slots that the school or program has been unable to fill within the preceding calendar year. The bill would require the board to submit that information to HCAI. The bill would require a health facility or a clinic, whether or not it currently offers prelicensure clinical placement slots, to annually prepare and submit to HCAI a report, with updates, on clinical placements for nursing students. The bill would authorize HCAI to decide to phase in the types of health facilities or clinics required to report on clinical placements. Under the bill, the report would include, among other things, the estimated number of days and shifts that will be made available within the subsequent calendar year for student use for each patient population served in the health facility or clinic, as specified. The bill would require HCAI to post the report on its internet website in a manner that allows for the information in the report to be cross-referenced against the above-described information from the nursing school or program. The bill would authorize the board, upon request by a nursing school or program, to assist in identifying clinical placement slot opportunities to meet the clinical placement needs of that school or program, by conferring with health facilities or clinics within the appropriate geographic region of each school or program in an attempt to match available clinical placement slots with needed slots and to encourage the creation of new clinical placement slots at additional clinical training sites to meet school or program needs, as specified. The bill would require the board to report a summary of every request made by an approved school or program and of any assistance provided and the outcome of that assistance. The bill would prohibit any attempt to identify additional clinical placement slots by the board, a health facility, or a clinic from supplanting or disrupting the clinical placement of any nursing student for whom a clinical placement is already in progress, has already been scheduled, or is under agreement for future use by an approved school or program. The bill would condition implementation of its provisions on an appropriation. The bill would also make related legislative findings.