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, including federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, to the extent that federal financial participation is available, FQHC and RHC services are reimbursed on a per-visit basis, as specified. This bill would require the department to seek any necessary federal approvals and issue appropriate guidance to allow an FQHC or RHC to bill, under a supervising licensed behavioral health practitioner, for an encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and an associate clinical social worker or associate marriage and family therapist when certain requirements are met, including that the visit is billed under the supervising licensed behavioral health practitioner of the FQHC or RHC. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 14132.100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 32 to be operative only if this bill and AB 32 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the California Department of Aging in the California Health and Human Services Agency, and sets forth its mission to provide leadership to the area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes or least restrictive homelike environments. Existing law requires the department to administer and implement the Aging and Disability Resource Connection program, in collaboration with the Department of Rehabilitation and the State Department of Health Care services. This bill would establish the Dementia Care Navigator Grant Pilot Program, to be administered by the California Department of Aging, in partnership with organizations with expertise using community health workers, promotores, and health navigators. The bill would provide that the purpose of the pilot program is to incentivize organizations that provide services to local communities to provide dementia care navigation training services, as defined. The bill would authorize organizations with expertise using community health workers, promotores, and health navigators to apply for a grant. The bill would require the department to award grants on a competitive basis. The bill would require an organization that receives a grant pursuant to these provisions to provide to the department an annual report on the services provided on or before December 31 of the year the grant is received, as specified. The bill would make those provisions inoperative on July 1, 2027. The bill would also require the department to provide a report to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature on or before December 1, 2027. Implementation of these provisions would be contingent upon an appropriation and the provisions would repeal on January 1, 2028. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health, in cooperation with the State Department of Education, to establish a Public School Health Center Support Program to assist school health centers, which are defined as centers or programs, located at or near local educational agencies, that provide age-appropriate health care services at the program site or through referrals, as specified. This bill would rename the program as the School-Based Health Center Support Program and would redefine a school-based health center to mean a student-focused health center or clinic that is located at or near a school or schools, is organized through school, community, and health provider relationships, and provides age-appropriate, clinical health care services onsite by qualified health professionals. The bill would authorize a school-based health center to provide primary medical care, behavioral health services, or dental care services onsite or through mobile health or telehealth. Existing law requires the department, subject to an appropriation, to establish a grant program within the Public School Health Center Support Program to provide technical assistance, and funding for the expansion, renovation, and retrofitting of existing school health centers, and the development of new school health centers. Existing law requires a health center receiving grant funds to meet or have a plan to meeting specified requirements relating to the provision of certain services. This bill would make changes to certain service requirements relating to, among other things, primary medical care, substance use disorder services, population health, and integrated and individualized support. Existing law requires, subject to an appropriation, that planning grants under the program be available in amounts between $25,000 and $50,000 for a 6- to 12-month period for specified uses. This bill would instead require, subject to an appropriation, that planning grants be available in amounts between $50,000 and $100,000, inclusive, for up to a 24-month period. Existing law requires, subject to an appropriation, that facilities and startup grants be available in amounts between $20,000 and $250,000 per year for a 3-year period for the purpose of establishing a school health center, with the potential addition of $100,000 in the first year for facilities construction, purchase, or renovation. This bill would instead require, subject to an appropriation, that facilities and startup grants be available in amounts between $300,000 and $850,000, inclusive, for a 3-year period. The bill would make certain changes to preference-related criteria. Existing law requires, subject to an appropriation, that sustainability grants be available in amounts between $25,000 and $125,000 per year for a 3-year period for the purpose of operating a school health center, or enhancing programming at a fully operational school health center, and sets forth certain criteria for those grants. This bill would delete those provisions and would instead require, subject to an appropriation, that expansion grants be available in amounts between $150,000 and $300,000, inclusive, for up to a 3-year period for the purpose of renovating and improving an existing school-based health center or enhancing and expanding programming at a fully operational school-based health center, as specified. The bill would set forth certain eligibility- and preference-related criteria for these grants. Existing law requires the program, in collaboration with the State Department of Education, to act as a liaison for school-based health centers. This bill would delete that provision. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to establish an Office of School-Based Health Programs for the purpose of assisting local educational agencies regarding the current health-related programs under the purview of the department, as specified. This bill would require the office to work with the State Department of Public Health in supporting the School-Based Health Center Support Program. The bill would make conforming changes to related provisions. The bill would make additional changes to the program, including, among others, changes relating to outreach and enrollment strategies for children eligible for certain health care coverage programs, consultation with specified stakeholders, data collection from health centers, and preference-related criteria for the above-described grant funding.
Existing law establishes various health professions education programs within the Department of Health Care Access and Information, through which scholarships, loan repayment grants, recruitment or training services, or other benefits are provided to certain health professionals, including mental health service providers, physicians, registered nurses, and vocational nurses, if they meet specified criteria. Existing law authorizes the department to award competitive grants to expand the supply of certain behavioral health professionals serving children and youth, as specified. This bill would, subject to an appropriation, require the department to establish and administer a grant program to allocate funding in the form of stipends, to be distributed to students in behavioral health fields of study and practice, who are participating in internships or completing licensure hours, through unpaid positions, at federally qualified health centers. The bill would require the department, in making grant determinations, to consider mental health professional shortage areas, as defined, and underrepresented groups in the behavioral health workforce. The bill would require the department to collect data in order to evaluate the impact of the grant program on serving the behavioral health needs of the patient community and the diversity of the behavioral health workforce, as specified. The bill would require the department to prepare annual reports based on the evaluation and to publish the annual reports on its internet website.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of disability insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract or disability insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2021, that provides hospital, medical, or surgical coverage to provide coverage for medically necessary treatment of mental health and substance use disorders, under the same terms and conditions applied to other medical conditions, as specified. For provider contracts issued, amended, or renewed on and after January 1, 2023, this bill would require a health care service plan or disability insurer that provides coverage for mental health and substance use disorders and credentials health care providers of those services for the health care service plan's or disability insurer's networks, to assess and verify the qualifications of a health care provider within 60 days after receiving a completed provider credentialing application. Because a violation of the bill's requirements 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 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. Under existing law, Medi-Cal services may be provided pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care health plans, including through a county organized health system. Under existing law, in-person contact between a health care provider and a patient is not required under the Medi-Cal program for services appropriately provided through telehealth. Existing law provides that neither face-to-face contact nor a patient's physical presence on the premises of an enrolled community clinic is required for services provided by the clinic to a Medi-Cal beneficiary during or immediately following a proclamation declaring a state of emergency. Existing law defines "immediately following" for this purpose to mean up to 90 days following the termination of the proclaimed state of emergency, unless there are extraordinary circumstances. Under existing law, federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services are covered benefits under the Medi-Cal program, to be reimbursed, to the extent that federal financial participation is available, to providers on a per-visit basis. "Visit" is defined as a face-to-face encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and any of specified health care professionals. Under existing law, "visit" also includes an encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and specified medical professionals when services delivered through that interaction meet the applicable standard of care. Existing law prohibits an FQHC or RHC from establishing a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction and authorizes the department to provide specific exceptions to that prohibition, developed in consultation with affected stakeholders and published in departmental guidance. This bill would authorize the department to authorize an FQHC or RHC to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the visit is related to sensitive services, as defined, and authorize an FQHC or RHC to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the patient requests an audio-only modality or attests they do not have access to video. Existing law provides that face-to-face contact is not required when covered health care services are provided by video synchronous interaction, audio-only synchronous interaction, remote patient monitoring, or other permissible virtual communication modalities when those services and settings meet certain criteria. Existing law, effective as specified, requires a provider furnishing services via audio-only synchronous interaction to also offer those same health care services via video synchronous interaction to preserve beneficiary choice. Existing law authorizes the department to provide specific exceptions to that requirement based on a Medi-Cal provider's access to requisite technologies, as specified. Existing law also prohibits a health care provider from establishing a new patient relationship with a Medi-Cal beneficiary via, among other interactions, telephonic (audio-only) synchronous interaction. Existing law authorizes the department to provide specific exceptions to that prohibition, as specified. This bill would authorize the department to take into consideration the availability of broadband access when providing those specific exceptions. The bill would authorize the department to authorize a health care provider to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the visit is related to sensitive services, as defined, and authorize a health care provider to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the patient requests an audio-only modality or attests they do not have access to video. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 14132.100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by SB 966 to be operative only if this bill and SB 966 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law, the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act of 1991, requires the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations establishing a standard of care at least as stringent as the most recent federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) screening guidelines, whereby all children are evaluated for risk of lead poisoning by health care providers during each child's periodic health assessment. Existing law requires a laboratory that performs a blood lead analysis on a specimen of human blood drawn in California to report specified information to the State Department of Public Health for each analysis on every person tested and requires other specified information to be reported when the laboratory has that information. Existing law authorizes the department to fine a laboratory that knowingly fails to meet the reporting requirements. This bill would, beginning on July 1, 2023, require the laboratory to report additional information, including the National Provider Identifier (NPI) of the health care provider that ordered the analysis, the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) number and the NPI of the laboratory, and the person's race, ethnicity, and pregnancy status. The bill would require a laboratory to request all of the required information from the health care provider who obtained the blood sample or ordered the test, but would waive the laboratory's reporting requirement when the health care provider cannot, or will not, provide the requested information. Existing law requires the laboratory to report within 3 working days if the result of the blood lead analysis is a blood lead level equal to or greater than 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood and within 30 working days if the blood lead level is lower that threshold. This bill would make the threshold for reporting within 3 working days the most recent CDC reference level for an elevated blood lead level. Existing law requires that all information reported be confidential, except that the department is authorized to share the information for the purpose of surveillance, case management, investigation, environmental assessment, environmental remediation, or abatement with the local health department, environmental health agency, or building department, and with the State Department of Health Care Services for the purpose of determining whether children enrolled in Medi-Cal are being screened for lead poisoning and receiving appropriate related services. This bill would authorize the department to share the information for purposes of care coordination as well. The bill would authorize the department to share the information with specified health care providers and with the person to whom the information pertains, with the voluntary written consent of the person to whom the information pertains or the person authorized to give consent on behalf of the individual, and when required by state or federal law, or court order. The bill would also authorize the department to share the information for research, as specified.
Existing law prohibits a school district from permitting access to pupil records to a person without written parental consent or under judicial order except as authorized by specified state and federal law. Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to establish and lead the California Cybersecurity Integration Center with a primary mission to reduce the likelihood and severity of cyber incidents that could damage California's economy, its critical infrastructure, or public and private sector computer networks in our state. This bill would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school to report any cyberattack, as defined, impacting more than 500 pupils or personnel to the California Cybersecurity Integration Center. By imposing new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the California Cybersecurity Integration Center to establish a database that tracks reports of cyberattacks submitted by local educational agencies and to annually, by January 1, submit a report to the Governor and the relevant policy committees of the Legislature with specified information related to cyberattacks or data breaches of local educational agencies. This bill would repeal those provisions as of January 1, 2027. 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 the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law, the Financial Information System for California (FISCal) Act, provides for FISCal, a single, integrated financial management system for the state, and specifies that the Legislature intends for the system to meet specified objectives, including to replace the state's legacy financial management systems and eliminate fragmented and diverse reporting by implementing standardized financial management processes and systems across all departments and control agencies. Existing law establishes the Department of FISCal and specifies that, upon the acceptance of the system by the state, as determined by the Director of Finance, the Department of FISCal shall be within the Government Operations Agency and shall supersede the FISCal project office and perform all administration, maintenance, and operation of the system. This bill, on and after January 1, 2024, and until January 1, 2028, would require the FISCal project office to include certain information in its annual report to the Legislature, including the number and length of unplanned outages that occurred during normal business hours and the number of requests for changes to the FISCal system by entities that reported concerns with using FISCal to meet federal requirements, as specified. By January 1, 2024, the bill would require the Government Operations Agency to contract for independent verification and validation services for FISCal.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, authorizes use of the Emergency Alert System to inform the public of local, state, and national emergencies. Existing law requires a law enforcement agency to activate the Emergency Alert System within the appropriate area if that agency determines that a child 17 years of age or younger, or an individual with a proven mental or physical disability, has been abducted and is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death, and there is information available that, if disseminated to the general public, could assist in the safe recovery of that person. Existing law also authorizes the issuance and coordination of a Blue Alert following an attack upon a law enforcement officer or a Silver Alert relating to a person who is 65 years of age or older who is reported missing. This bill would authorize a law enforcement agency to request the Department of the California Highway Patrol to activate a "Feather Alert," as defined, if specified criteria are satisfied with respect to an endangered indigenous person who has been reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances. The bill would require the department, if it concurs that specified requirements are met, to activate a Feather Alert within the appropriate geographical area requested by the investigating law enforcement agency and to assist the agency by disseminating specified alert messages and signs. The bill would require the department to create and submit a report to the Governor's Office and the Legislature that includes an evaluation of the notification system established pursuant to these provisions no later than January 1, 2027. The bill would also make related legislative findings and declarations.