This measure would proclaim the month of May 2016, and every May thereafter, as California Travel and Tourism Month to celebrate the leadership of California's tourism industry in growing California's economy and improving the quality of life for all Californians.
Existing law sets wage, hour, meal break requirements, and other working conditions for employees and requires an employer to pay overtime wages as specified to an employee who works in excess of a workday or workweek, as defined, and imposes criminal penalties for the violation of these requirements. Existing law exempts agricultural employees from these requirements. Under existing law, the function of the Department of Industrial Relations is to, among other things, foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. This bill would remove the exemption for agricultural employees regarding hours, meal breaks, and other working conditions, including specified wage requirements, and would create a schedule that would phase in overtime requirements for agricultural workers, as defined, over the course of 4 years, from 2019 to 2022, inclusive. Beginning January 1, 2022, the bill would require any work performed by a person, employed in an agricultural occupation, in excess of 12 hours in one day to be compensated at the rate of no less than twice the employee's regular rate of pay. The bill would authorize the Governor to delay the implementation of these overtime pay provisions if the Governor also suspends the implementation of a scheduled state minimum wage increase, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations to update a specified wage order for consistency with these provisions. The bill would create a state-mandated local program by including agricultural employees as a class of employees protected by criminal penalties under existing law. 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.
This measure would designate the month of May 2016 as Bone Marrow Donation Awareness Month.
This measure would designate the portion of Interstate 10 from the State Route 57 Interchange to the North Towne Avenue exit in the County of Los Angeles as the Pomona Police Officer Shaun Diamond Memorial Highway. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
This measure would proclaim the month of February 2016 as Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, and would encourage all Californians to observe Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month with programs and activities that raise awareness about teen dating violence.
This measure would recognize April 17, 2016, as World Hemophilia Day.
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 health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law imposes various requirements on contracts and policies that cover prescription drug benefits. This bill would require a health care service plan contract or a policy of health insurance that is issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2017, and that provides coverage for prescription drug benefits to notify the enrollee or insured, at the time that a prescription drug is delivered or within 30 days of purchase, of specified information related to the cost of the prescription drug. The bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care to adopt regulations relating to these requirements, as specified. The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations. Because a willful 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 federal law requires a group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage to provide for a coverage appeals process, which includes both an internal review and an external review process, that applies if an enrollee receives an adverse benefit determination for a drug that is included on the health plan's formulary drug list. For plan years commencing on or after January 1, 2016, existing federal law requires a health plan providing essential health benefits to have procedures in place that allow an enrollee, the enrollee's designee, or the enrollee's prescribing provider to request and gain access to clinically appropriate nonformulary drugs within certain timeframes, and have an external review if the initial request is denied by the plan. 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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plans to establish and maintain a grievance system approved by the department under which enrollees may submit grievances to the plan and requires plans to resolve those grievances within 30 days, except as specified. Existing law requires individual, small group, and large group health care service plans and health insurers that provide prescription drug coverage to comply with the external exception request review process required by federal law for nonformulary drugs. The bill would specify that for nonformulary drugs, an external exception request may be filed in lieu of filing a grievance with the health care service plan or health insurer following an adverse benefit determination. With respect to formulary drugs, the bill would require the grievance system established by the plan or an insurer's internal grievance process to require a plan or insurer that provides coverage for outpatient prescription drugs to resolve grievances or complaints that involve the disapproval of a request for a formulary drug within 72 hours for nonurgent requests, and within 24 hours if exigent circumstances exist. The bill would make other conforming changes to implement these changes. Because a willful violation of these 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.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. This bill would require electrical corporations, on or before July 1, 2018, to establish utility service guarantee programs. The bill would require the programs to automatically provide each customer that experiences an outage for a continuous 24-hour period a $30 bill credit for each continuous 24-hour period that the customer was without power, which would be borne exclusively by the shareholders of the electrical corporations. The bill would also require electrical corporations to engage in public outreach and educate the public about the program to increase public awareness. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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 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 Program provisions. Under existing law, one of the methods by which Medi-Cal services are provided is pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care health plans, including through a county organized health system and geographic managed care. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to annually administer the Consumer Assessment of Health Care Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Health Plan surveys, which are developed by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, for all Medi-Cal managed care plan populations, and would require the CAHPS survey to be administered for all Medi-Cal managed care plan models, including county organized health systems and geographic managed care. The bill would require the department to translate the CAHPS survey in all Medi-Cal threshold languages, and administer the CAHPS survey in each county in all Medi-Cal threshold languages in that county. The bill would require the department to stratify the results of the CAHPS surveys by specified factors, including geographic region and primary language, as specified. The bill would require the department to annually prepare and make publicly available a report on the results of the CAHPS surveys on the department's Internet Web site, and would require the report to include specified information.
