Existing law does not provide a system of universal health care coverage for California residents. Existing law provides for the creation of various programs to provide health care services to persons who have limited incomes and meet various eligibility requirements. These programs include the Healthy Families Program administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, and the Medi‑Cal program administered by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law provides for the regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and health insurers by the Department of Insurance. This bill would establish the California Healthcare System to be administered by the newly created California Healthcare Agency under the control of a Healthcare Commissioner appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The bill would make all California residents eligible for specified health care benefits under the California Healthcare System, which would, on a single-payer basis, negotiate for or set fees for health care services provided through the system and pay claims for those services. The bill would provide that a resident of the state with a household income, as specified, at or below 200% of the federal poverty level would be eligible for the type of benefits provided under the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require the commissioner to seek all necessary waivers, exemptions, agreements, or legislation to allow various existing federal, state, and local health care payments to be paid to the California Healthcare System, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. The bill would create the Healthcare Policy Board to establish policy on medical issues and various other matters relating to the system. The bill would create the Office of Patient Advocacy within the agency to represent the interests of health care consumers relative to the system. The bill would create within the agency the Office of Health Planning to plan for the health care needs of the population, and the Office of Health Care Quality, headed by a chief medical officer, to support the delivery of high quality care and promote provider and patient satisfaction. The bill would create the Office of Inspector General for the California Healthcare System within the Attorney General's office, which would have various oversight powers. The bill would prohibit health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies from being issued for services covered by the California Healthcare System. The bill would create the Healthcare Fund and the Payments Board to administer the finances of the California Healthcare System. The bill would create the California Healthcare Premium Commission (Premium Commission) to determine the cost of the California Healthcare System and to develop a premium structure for the system that complies with specified standards. The bill would require the Premium Commission to recommend a premium structure to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 1, 2013, and to make a draft recommendation to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public 90 days before submitting its final premium structure recommendation. The bill would specify that only its provisions relating to the Premium Commission would become operative on January 1, 2011, with its remaining provisions becoming operative on the date the Secretary of California Health and Human Services notifies the Legislature, as specified, that sufficient funding exists to implement the California Healthcare System. The bill would require that system to be operative within 2 years of that date and would provide for various transition processes for that period. The bill would extend the application of certain insurance fraud laws to providers of services and products under the system, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by revising the definition of a crime. The bill would enact other related provisions relative to budgeting, regional entities, federal preemption, subrogation, collective bargaining agreements, compensation of health care providers, conflict of interest, patient grievances, independent medical review, and associated matters. 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
Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health and sets forth its powers and duties, including, but not limited to, the licensing and regulation of health facilities, including, but not limited to, congregated living health facilities. Existing law defines a congregate living health facility to be a residential home with a capacity, except as provided, of no more than 12 beds that provides inpatient care, including, but not limited to, medical supervision, 24-hour skilled nursing and supportive care, pharmacy, dietary, social, and recreational services to persons with prescribed conditions, including, but not limited to, persons who have a diagnosis of terminal illness or a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness. A violation of provisions relating to the licensing and regulation of health facilities is a crime. This bill would specify that this definition includes facilities that provide services to children who have a diagnosis of terminal illness or a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness. By changing the definition of a crime, this 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.
This measure would request the Legislature to review California's current regional market rate survey for subsidized child care, as specified. The bill would also request that all vested stakeholders be included in the planning and implementation process being undertaken by the State Department of Education to establish new rates or a new rate structure.
Existing law provides that no deficiency judgment lies in any event after a sale of real property or an estate for years for failure of the purchaser to complete the contract of sale, or under a mortgage or trust deed given to the vendor to secure payment of the balance of the purchase price of real property, or under a mortgage or trust deed on a dwelling, as specified, given to a lender to secure repayment of a loan which was in fact used to pay all or part of the purchase price of the dwelling. This bill would provide that a loan used to pay all or part of the purchase price of real property or an estate for years includes a subsequent loan, mortgage, or deed of trust that refinances or modifies the original loan, but only to the extent that the subsequent loan was used to pay debt incurred to purchase the real property. The bill would become operative on June 1, 2011, and would apply only to actions filed after its operative date.
Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of pharmacy by the California State Board of Pharmacy. Existing law requires the board to promulgate regulations that require, on or before January 1, 2011, a standardized, patient-centered, prescription drug label on all prescription medication dispensed to patients in California. A knowing violation of the Pharmacy Law is a crime. This bill wouldrepeal that provision and would instead, on and after January 1, 2012, require prescription drug labels on all prescription drugs dispensed to patients in California to conform to a specified standardized, patient-centered format including that certain elements of the label be printed in a specified typeface and that, when applicable, directions for use utilize certain phrases and be translated into non-English languages, as specified. The bill would exempt from these requirements certain prescription drugs dispensed to patients in a health facility, as defined. The bill would require the board, by January 1, 2012, to develop, collect, and publish on its Internet Web site (1) translations of the directions for use into certain languages and (2) examples of labels meeting the standardized, patient-centered format requirements. The bill would require a pharmacy, by January 1, 2012, during its hours of operation, to provide interpreter services, as specified, to non-English-speaking patients at no charge to help the patient understand the information on his or her prescription drug label. The bill would also, by January 1, 2013, require a pharmacy to provide these non-English patients with any other written information relevant to the prescription drug in the patient's language. The bill would require these pharmacies to develop written policies and procedures by certain specified dates in order to carry out these requirements. Because a knowing violation of these requirements 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 requires an operator of a commercial Internet Web site or online service that collects personally identifiable information through the Internet about individual consumers residing in California who use or visit its commercial Internet Web site or online service to conspicuously post its privacy policy on its Internet Web site. Existing law also prescribes various prohibitions with regard to disclosures of personal information related to, among other things, driver's licenses, social security numbers, and direct marketing. This bill would prohibit a social networking Internet Web site, as defined, from displaying, to the public or other registered users, the home address or telephone number of a registered user of that Internet Web site who is under 18 years of age, as provided. This bill would impose a civil penalty, not to exceed $10,000, for each willful and knowing violation of this prohibition.
Existing law, the Miller-Ayala Athlete Agents Act, regulates specified activities of an athlete agent in representing or seeking to represent student athletes and professional athletes. Under this act, an agent is required to file with the Secretary of State specified information about his or her background, training, and experience and to advise an athlete of the availability of this information. The act also requires the athlete agent to establish a trust fund and deposit into it all funds received on behalf of the athlete. The act includes specified conflict-of-interest provisions pertaining to the activities of an athlete agent. The act imposes additional requirements pertaining to an athlete agent's transactions with a student athlete, specifying the circumstances under which an athlete agent may contact a student athlete or his or her family, and requiring the athlete agent to include a disclosure in a contract with a student athlete, warning the student that he or she may lose eligibility to compete in interscholastic or intercollegiate sports upon entering into the contract and allowing the student athlete to rescind the contract within 15 days. The act allows for a civil action to recover damages resulting from its violation and makes void any contract that fails to comply with its requirements. The act also makes a violation of its provisions a misdemeanor offense. This bill would make the provisions of the Miller-Ayala Athlete Agents Act inoperative on July 1, 2011, and would repeal those provisions as of January 1, 2012. The bill would enact the Uniform Athlete Agents Act, which would, commencing July 1, 2011, regulate the activities of an athlete agent in soliciting or contracting to represent a student or professional athlete. The bill would prohibit, subject to specified exceptions, a person from acting as an athlete agent without a certificate of registration issued by the Department of Industrial Relations. The bill would make void a contract to represent a student or professional athlete obtained in violation of these registration requirements, and would make voidable, at the athlete's election, an agency contract that does not conform to other provisions of the act. The bill would allow the acceptance of registration as an athlete agent from another state. This bill would additionally require that a contract between an athlete agent and athlete contain specified provisions. A contract with a student athlete would be required to contain additional provisions, including the right of a student athlete to cancel the contract within 14 days of its execution and a warning that the student may lose his or her eligibility to compete as a student athlete. The bill would require both the agent and student to notify the educational institution in which the student is enrolled within 72 hours of entering into the contract or before the student's next athletic event, whichever occurs first. This bill would provide for a civil action by a professional athlete, student athlete, or educational institution against an athlete agent for damages resulting from a violation of the requirements of the act. The bill would require an athlete agent to establish a trust fund and deposit into it any payment he or she receives on behalf of a professional athlete. The bill would modify conflict-of-interest provisions with respect to agents representing professional athletes and would incorporate other conflict-of-interest provisions that pertain to the activities of an athlete agent under existing law. This bill would also prohibit other types of specified conduct by an athlete agent and would make their commission a misdemeanor offense. Because the bill would create new crimes, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill in addition would make the violation of its provisions grounds for the department to revoke or suspend the athlete agent's registration and to excuse payment of the athlete agent under specified contracts. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2012, authorize the department to assess a civil penalty not exceeding $25,000 against an athlete agent. The bill would provide for the imposition of a fee for registration and renewal. The bill would direct that the fees and civil penalties be deposited into the Athlete Agent Registration Fund, which would be created by the bill. The bill would declare that its provisions are taken from the Uniform Athlete Agents Act of 2000, drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, and that uniformity of the law shall be considered when construing the bill's provisions. 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 that no costs incurred by a qualified health care professional, hospital, or other emergency medical facility for the examination of the victim of a sexual assault for the purposes of gathering evidence for possible prosecution shall be charged directly or indirectly to the victim of the assault. Existing law provides that the law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which the alleged sexual assault was committed which requests the examination has the option of determining whether or not the examination will be performed in the office of a physician and surgeon, and that local jurisdiction shall bear those costs. This bill would provide that victims of sexual assault are not required to participate in the criminal justice system or cooperate with law enforcement in order to be provided with a forensic medical exam. Because this bill would expand a victim's right to a medical exam paid for by a local agency, it 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, 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.
The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, is required to reduce, recycle, and reuse solid waste generated in the state to the maximum extent feasible in an efficient cost-effective manner to conserve water, energy, and other natural resources. The bill would require, by September 30, 2011, a producer or the household battery stewardship organization created by one or more producers of a household battery to submit a household battery stewardship plan to the department, which would be required to include specified elements, including product goals and a collection rate for the household batteries subject to the plan, calculated in a specified manner. The bill would allow a registered hazardous waste transporter to elect to submit a household battery stewardship plan to the department on behalf of one or more producers and would require a hazardous waste transporter making that election to comply with the provisions of the bill applicable to a household battery stewardship organization. The department would be required to review a household battery stewardship plan submitted to the department and deem the plan either complete or incomplete within 45 days after receipt. The bill would prohibit a producer, wholesaler, or retailer, on and after January 1, 2012, from selling a household battery unless the plan for that battery is deemed complete by the department. The act would require a producer or the household battery stewardship organization to implement the household battery program pursuant to the household battery stewardship plan, including achieving the collection rate. Each producer or household battery stewardship organization implementing a household battery stewardship plan would be required to prepare and submit to the department an annual report describing the activities carried out pursuant to the household battery stewardship plan. A producer or household battery stewardship organization submitting a household battery stewardship plan would be required to pay the department a plan review fee, as determined by the department, when submitting the plan to the department and to pay an administrative fee, as determined by the department, when submitting the annual report. The bill would provide for the imposition of administrative civil penalties upon a producer that does not comply with the bill's requirements or a wholesaler or retailer selling household batteries in violation of the bill. The bill would create the Household Battery Stewardship Account in the existing Integrated Waste Management Fund and would require that the fees be deposited into that account and that the penalties be deposited into the Household Battery Stewardship Penalty Subaccount that the bill would create in that account. The bill would authorize the fees and penalties to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to cover the department's program implementation costs and would authorize all funds collected or received by the department under the program, except for the fees, to be expended as incentives to enhance recyclability and redesign efforts and to reduce environmental and safety impacts of household batteries.
The California Constitution conditions the imposition of a special tax by a city, county, or special district upon the approval of 23 of the voters of the city, county, or special district voting on that tax, and prohibits these entities from imposing an ad valorem tax on real property or a transactions or sales tax on the sale of real property. This measure would alternatively condition the imposition, extension, or increase of a parcel tax, as defined, by a school district, community college district, or county office of education upon the approval of 55% of its voters voting on the proposition, if the proposition meets specified requirements. This measure would also make conforming changes to related provisions.