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 office of the Inspector General, and charges the Inspector General with various duties and responsibilities. Existing law establishes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and charges it with various duties and responsibilities. This bill would require the Inspector General to oversee, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to oversee and conduct, periodic and random searches of employees and vendors entering the secure perimeter of the state prisons under the jurisdiction of the department for contraband, and to report to the Inspector General quarterly regarding those searches, as specified.
Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health insurers to provide coverage for orthotic and prosthetic devices and services under terms and conditions that may be agreed upon between the policyholder and insurer, and requires that the device be prescribed by a physician and surgeon or doctor of podiatric medicine acting within the scope of his or her license or ordered by a licensed health care provider acting within the scope of his or her license. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to the above-described provisions.
Existing law creates the office of the State Chief Information Officer, within the Governor's cabinet, with a State Chief Information Officer having specified duties in creating and managing the technology policy of the state. This bill would require the State Chief Information Officer to make recommendations to the Legislature by a unspecified date for an open government directive and take actions with regard to information technology consistent with ideas of government transparency and public participation and collaboration in government.
The Comprehensive Health Education Act of 1977 requires the State Department of Education to prepare and distribute to school districts guidelines for the preparation of comprehensive health education plans, and, in cooperation with county offices of education that desire to participate, to assist school districts in developing comprehensive health education plans and programs. This bill would require school districts that offer health classes to grade 9 or 10 pupils to provide at least 15 minutes of instruction on organ procurement and tissue donation that would be designed to develop a knowledge of the potentially life-saving achievement involved in organ and tissue transplantation. The bill would require the State Board of Education and the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission to ensure that the health framework, evaluation criteria, and instructional materials adopted for pupils in grades 9 and 10 in the course of the next submission cycle following the date that this section becomes effective include organ procurement and tissue donation.
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.
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.
Existing law provides that each pupil who is required to take, during the regular schoolday, medication prescribed for him or her by a physician, may be assisted by the school nurse or other designated school personnel if the school district receives a written statement from the physician detailing the method, amount, and time schedules by which the medication is to be taken and a written statement from the parent or guardian of the pupil indicating the desire that the school district assist the pupil in the matters set forth in the physician's statement. Existing law, in the absence of a credentialed school nurse or other licensed nurse, authorizes a school district to provide voluntary emergency medical training to school personnel, as defined, to administer emergency medical assistance to pupils with diabetes suffering from severe hypoglycemia, subject to specified conditions. This bill would authorize a parent or guardian of a pupil with diabetes to designate one or more school employees as parent-designated school employees for the purpose of administering insulin to the pupil as necessary during the regular schoolday when a credentialed school nurse or other health care professional is not immediately available onsite at the school. The bill would authorize a parent-designated school employee to administer insulin. In order to designate an employee for these purposes, the bill would require that the parent or guardian submit a written statement, valid for a maximum of one year, as specified. The bill would require the school district to keep a copy of that statement, to obtain other specified statements from the physician of the pupil and the parent or guardian, and, upon receiving a written request from the parent or guardian of a pupil with diabetes, to notify school staff regarding the intent of the parent or guardian to designate school employees to administer insulin to the pupil. The bill would authorize a licensed health care professional, as described, to provide training to parent-designated school employees in the administration of insulin and to supervise those employees in performing that task. The bill would provide a parent-designated school employee who administers insulin pursuant to the bill's provisions with immunity from criminal and civil liability, as specified. By requiring school districts to perform additional duties, 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, 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 defines, for purposes of property taxation, "change in ownership" to mean a transfer of a present interest in real property, the value of which is substantially equal to the value of the fee interest. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to that provision.
Existing law establishes various offenses relating to the unauthorized provision of specified items to persons confined in local and state correctional facilities. This bill would provide, subject to exceptions, that a person who possesses with the intent to deliver, or delivers, to an inmate or ward in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation any cellular telephone or other wireless communication device or any component thereof, including, but not limited to, a subscriber identity module (SIM card) or memory storage device, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $5,000, for each device. The bill would also provide that if a person visiting an inmate or ward in the custody of the department is found to be in possession of a cellular telephone or other wireless communication device or any component thereof, including, but not limited to, a SIM card or memory storage device, when searched or subjected to a metal detector, as specified, that cellular telephone or wireless communication device or component shall be subject to confiscation, but shall be returned on the same day the person visits the inmate or ward, except as provided. The bill would require posted notices regarding those search and confiscation provisions, as specified. By creating a new 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.