(1) Existing law defines a truant as any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without valid excuse 3 full days in one school year, or tardy or absent for more than any 30-minute period during the schoolday without a valid excuse on 3 occasions in one school year, or any combination thereof. This bill would define a chronic truant as any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuing education who is absent from school without valid excuse for 10% or more of the schooldays in one school year, from the date of enrollment to the current date, provided that the appropriate school district officer or employee has complied with specified provisions of law. (2) Existing law requires school districts to establish, maintain, and destroy pupil records according to regulations adopted by the State Board of Education. Existing law requires these regulations to establish state policy as to what items of information shall be placed into pupil records. This bill would require that, if a pupil is determined to be a chronic truant, this information be placed in the pupil's permanent record. Because this requirement would increase the duties of school districts, it would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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.
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This measure would recognize the importance of celebrating the birth and independence of Mexico and honoring and invigorating the spirit of friendship, understanding, and cooperation that characterizes the California-Mexico relationship.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which basic health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Existing law establishes a program in Alameda County in which utilization controls shall not be required when, pursuant to federal law under the Medicare Program, a county hospital based utilization review committee has been established to determine the level of authorization for payment under Medi-Cal and a utilization plan has been filed with, and approved by, the department. This bill would establish a program, whereby state utilization controls shall not be required for inpatient hospital services provided by designated public hospitals, as defined, with participation being optional for each hospital. The bill would require the department to consult with designated public hospitals in the development of the program. This bill would require the department, as part of the above-described program, to seek any necessary federal approvals, including waivers and state plan amendments, for an alternative utilization control system, as specified. The bill would provide that an alternative utilization control system established for inpatient hospital services shall apply only to the extent that the nonfederal share of expenditures for the services is incurred by the designated public hospital or governmental entity with which it is affiliated, or is otherwise funded with public funds that are transferred to the state from the hospital or governmental entity. This bill would provide that the above-described provisions shall become inoperative on the date the Director of Health Care Services executes a declaration specifying that either the nonfederal share of expenditures for inpatient hospitalization at designated public hospitals used for purposes of claiming federal financial participation is not comprised of funds that are paid and certified by designated public hospitals in accordance with applicable state and federal requirements or the above-described program will result in increased costs to the General Fund. Under existing law, one of the utilization controls to which services are subject under the Medi-Cal program is the treatment authorization request (TAR) process, which is approval by a department consultant of a specified service in advance of the rendering of that service based upon a determination of medical necessity. Existing law requires the department to pursue additional means to improve and streamline the TAR process. In addition to the above-described program providing designated public hospitals with the option of not using state utilization controls, the bill would authorize the department to utilize any process or program, including any pilot project, that is established or authorized pursuant to the above-described provisions authorizing the department to pursue additional means to improve and streamline the TAR process, that is modified or developed to meet the needs of the particular designated public hospital.
The California Constitution provides that the electors may propose statutes or amendments to the state constitution through the initiative process by presenting to the Secretary of State a petition that sets forth the text of the proposed statute or amendment to the Constitution and is certified to have been signed by a certain number of electors. This measure would prohibit an initiative measure that would result in a net increase in state or local government costs other than costs attributable to the issuance, sale, or repayment of bonds, from being submitted to the electors or having any effect unless and until the Legislative Analyst and the Director of Finance jointly determine that the initiative measure provides for additional revenues in an amount that meets or exceeds the net increase in costs.
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.
This measure would urge the President and the Congress of the United States to consider the removal of commercial, economic, and financial restrictions relating to agricultural sales to Cuba.
Existing law, the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act, provides for the licensure of residential care facilities by the department. Existing law requires a criminal record check of applicants for a license, special permit, or certificate of approval to operate a residential care facility for the elderly, or for other persons, including nonclients who reside in those facilities and staff and employees. Existing law requires that an application be denied if it is found that the applicant or any of the other designated persons has been convicted of a crime, other than a minor traffic violation. Existing law authorizes the Director of Social Services to grant an exemption from disqualification under these provisions, but prohibits the director from granting an exemption in the case of certain crimes. This bill would add additional specified crimes with respect to which the director is prohibited from granting an exemption. This bill would also add specified crimes with respect to which the director is prohibited from granting an exemption within 10 years of either the date the person was convicted of the offense or the date the person was released from incarceration for the offense, whichever is later.
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.
Existing law, the Public School Performance Accountability Program, provides a state assessment program for schools, an intervention program for low-performing schools, and a reward system for high-achieving schools, as specified. This bill would require that any primary language assessment developed by the department and administered to limited-English-proficient students, as identified pursuant to existing law, on or after July 1, 2013, be included in the state's assessment system or any successor system and in the state's federal and state accountability system and any successor system. The bill would require the results of the primary language assessment to be used in any successor measure or results reported for the state's assessment systems and in any other successor measure, as specified. The bill would also require the results to be used in any measure, index, or results reported for the state's federal and state accountability system, or any successor system. These provisions would become operative on July 1, 2013. This bill would make various findings and declarations.
(1) Existing law authorizes the establishment of regional occupational centers or programs to provide career technical education and technical training to students. Existing law provides a system for the funding of regional occupational centers or programs that includes a provision for the apportionment of state funds to these centers or programs. This bill would require from the 2009–10 fiscal year to the 2012–13 fiscal year, inclusive, that a regional occupational center or program established and maintained by school districts as a joint powers agency receive its operating funds directly from the county office of education of the county in which it is located, in a manner that is consistent with the apportionments for those school districts that comprise the joint powers authority that are provided to the county office of education pursuant to the annual Budget Act. The bill would authorize a joint powers agency receiving an apportionment for a school district pursuant to the bill to disburse those funds to the school district for which that apportionment was made. The bill would provide that nothing in its provisions would prevent any school district or county office of education from using funding received from a specified item of the annual Budget Act for any educational purpose. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.