Health: The California Health Benefit Review Program.

Existing law establishes the California Health Benefit Review Program to assess legislation that proposes to mandate or repeal a mandated health benefit or service, as defined. Existing law requests the University of California, to provide the analysis to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature within 60 days after receiving a request for the analysis. Existing law also requests that the university report to the Governor and the Legislature on the implementation of the program by January 1, 2014. This bill would request the University of California to include essential health benefits and the impact on the California Health Benefit Exchange in the analysis prepared under the program. The bill would further request that the University of California assess legislation that impacts health insurance benefit design, cost sharing, premiums, and other health insurance topics. The bill would request that the university provide the analysis to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature not later than 60 days, or in a manner and pursuant to a timeline agreed to by the Legislature and the program, after receiving the request, as specified. The bill would also extend the date by which the university is requested to report to the Governor and the Legislature on the implementation program until January 1, 2016. Existing law establishes the Health Care Benefits Fund to support the university in implementing the program. Existing law imposes an annual charge on health care service plans and health insurers, as specified, to be deposited into the fund. Existing law prohibits the total annual assessment pursuant to that provision from exceeding $2,000,000. Under existing law, the fund and the program are repealed as of June 30, 2015. This bill would extend until June 30, 2016, the operative date of the program and the fund, including the annual charge on health care service plans and health insurers. The bill would repeal the above-described provisions as of June 30, 2016. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.