Existing law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, on and after January 1, 2014, requires a health insurance issuer offering health insurance coverage in the individual or group market to accept every employer and individual in the state that applies for that coverage, as specified, and requires issuers in the individual and small group markets to ensure that the coverage includes a specified essential benefits package. The act requires an essential health benefits package to provide coverage in one of 5 levels based on actuarial value, as specified. 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 imposes various requirements with respect to individual contracts and policies issued by health care service plans and health insurers. Existing law requires a health care service plan to permit, at least once each year, an individual who has been covered for at least 18 months under an individual plan contract issued by the health care service plan to transfer, without medical underwriting, as defined, to another individual plan contract offered by the health care service plan having equal or lesser benefits, as specified. Existing law imposes a parallel requirement with respect to individual policies issued by health insurers. This bill would eliminate the 18-month requirement and would require plans and insurers to allow an individual to transfer to another individual contract or policy without medical underwriting on the annual renewal date of his or her contract or policy. Commencing July 1, 2011, the bill would require plans and insurers to categorize all products offered in the individual market into 5 tiers according to actuarial value, as specified, and would require plans and insurers to disclose this value and other information in certain disclosure forms. Existing law prohibits a health care service plan from expending for administrative costs, as defined, an excessive amount of the payments the plan receives for providing health care services to its subscribers and enrollees. The Insurance Commissioner is required to withdraw approval of an individual or mass-marketed policy of disability insurance if the commissioner finds that the benefits provided under the policy are unreasonable in relation to the premium charged, as specified. The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act prohibits a health insurance issuer issuing health insurance coverage from establishing lifetime limits or unreasonable annual limits on the dollar value of benefits for any participant or beneficiary, as specified. The act also requires a health insurance issuer issuing health insurance coverage to provide an annual rebate to each enrollee if the ratio of the amount of the revenue expended by the issuer on costs to the total amount of premium revenue is less than a certain percentage, as specified. This bill would require health care service plans and health insurers to comply with the requirements imposed under those provisions to the extent required under federal law. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements with respect to health care service plans 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.
Sponsored bills
This measure would memorialize the Legislature's support of legislation currently pending in the United States Congress that would protect the Pacific Coast from new offshore oil drilling. This measure would also memorialize the Legislature's opposition to the proposed expansion of oil and gas drilling off the Pacific Coast and any federal energy policies and legislation that would weaken California's role in energy siting decisions due to those policies.
Existing law provides for the compensation of local government officers and employees, as specified. This bill would require filers, as defined, to annually file a compensation disclosure form, as specified. This bill would require the Secretary of State to develop the form, which would provide for the disclosure of, among other things, salaries and stipends, automobile and equipment allowances, and incentive and bonus payments. This bill would also require a county, city, city and county, school district, special district, or joint powers agency that maintains an Internet Web site to post the information contained on the filed form on that Internet Web site, as specified. The bill would authorize a district attorney or any interested person to commence an action by mandamus to enforce the provisions of the bill, as specified. The duties imposed on local departmental agencies by the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would express a legislative finding and declaration that, to ensure the statewide integrity of local government, disclosure of compensation paid to filers is an issue of statewide concern and not a municipal affair and that, therefore, all cities, including charter cities, would be subject to the provisions of the bill. 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.
Existing law divides the state into agricultural districts within the boundaries of which agricultural associations may be formed. Existing law creates District 32a from real property commonly known as the Orange County Fair and authorizes the Department of General Services to sell all or any portion of the real property that composes District 32a. This bill would repeal the provision creating District 32a out of the Orange County Fair property and would repeal the provision authorizing its sale by the department. This bill would also repeal the creation of the District 32a Disposition Fund in the State Treasury. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services, including medical transportation services, are provided to qualified low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is partially governed and funded under federal Medicaid provisions. Existing law establishes a quality assurance fee program for skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities, as prescribed. This bill, as a condition of participation in the Medi-Cal program, commencing July 1, 2010, would impose on each public and private ambulance transportation services provider that bills and receives patient care revenue from the provision of ambulance transportation services, as defined, except as provided, a quality assurance fee for each transport provided, as specified. This bill would require the quality assurance fee to be paid by providers to the State Board of Equalization on a monthly basis on or before the last day of the month following the month for which the fee was imposed, except as specified. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. The bill would require the State Board of Equalization to collect the quality assurance fee in accordance with the Fee Collection Procedures Law. Because the Fee Collection Procedures Law would apply to the collection of the fee, the violation of which is a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the State Board of Equalization to deposit the quality assurance fee collected into the Medi-Cal Ambulance Transportation Services Providers Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would provide that moneys in the fund shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be available exclusively to enhance federal financial participation for ambulance transportation services under the Medi-Cal program or to provide additional reimbursement to, and to support quality improvement efforts of, ambulance transportation services providers, including increased reimbursement for, and improvement of the quality of, the provision of advanced life support services, as defined. The bill would provide that the above-described provisions are to be implemented only if, and as long as, the state receives federal approval for the fee and legislation is enacted during the 2009–10 Regular Session of the Legislature that makes an appropriation from the fund and from the Federal Trust Fund to fund a Medi-Cal rate increase for ambulance transportation services providers. This bill, commencing August 1, 2010, to July 1, 2016, inclusive, would provide that Medi-Cal reimbursement for ambulance transportation services shall be the amount equal to that established by the federal Medicare Program for the same services, utilizing applicable Medicare standards, definitions, and regional-specific modifiers. This bill would require the department to request approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for the above-described provisions. This bill would provided that if there is a delay in the implementation of the above-described provisions for any reason, including a delay in the approval of the quality assurance fee and reimbursement methodology by CMS, a provider subject to the fee may be assessed the amount the provider would be required to pay if the methodology were already approved, but shall not be required to pay the fee until the methodology is approved and the department may retroactively increase and make payments of rates to Medi-Cal ambulance transportation services providers. The bill would provide that the provisions of the bill shall cease to be implemented if any of certain conditions, including continued federal approval, is no longer met. 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 recognize the Lunar New Year 4708 celebration.
This measure would declare February 23, 2010, to be Spay Day USA 2010 in California, and would request that Californians observe that day by having their dogs and cats spayed or neutered and by providing voluntary services or other support to organizations that provide spay and neuter services.
This resolution would respectfully request that the International Maritime Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, adopt the North American Emission Control Area, as proposed by the United States, Canada, and France at the 60th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee, scheduled for March 2010.
The Community Redevelopment Law authorizes the establishment of redevelopment agencies in communities in order to address the effects of blight, as defined, in those communities and requires those agencies to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and approve a redevelopment plan for each project area. Existing law authorizes the legislative body to amend or modify the plan by ordinance upon the recommendation of the agency and establishes procedural requirements and restrictions related to amendment of the plan. Section 16 of Article XVI of the California Constitution authorizes a redevelopment agency to receive funding through tax increments attributable to increases in assessed property tax valuation of property in a project area due to the redevelopment. Not less than 20% of tax increments generated from a project area are required to be used by a redevelopment agency to increase and improve the community's supply of low- and moderate-income housing. Redevelopment agencies also are required in specified years to remit an amount of revenue for deposit in various funds for allocation to school entities. This bill would authorize the redevelopment agency of the City of Downey to add described territory to a redevelopment project area within the city upon the adoption of an ordinance adopted by the city council that contains specified time limitations and restrictions. The bill would exempt the adoption of the amendment of the redevelopment plan to add the specified territory of the City of Downey from various requirements. The bill would authorize the agency to subordinate to bonded debt the amount required to be paid to an affected school entity upon a finding that the agency will have sufficient funds available to pay both the bonded debt payments and the required payments. The bill would provide that these provisions become operative on or after January 1, 2012, if the City of Downey finds and declares that Tesla Motors has not constructed a manufacturing operation in the described territory. The bill would make a legislative declaration regarding the need for a special statute. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would urge various state and private entities to withhold financial support of Arizona businesses in response to recent Arizona state laws relating to illegal immigration.