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 Program provisions. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments to be reduced by 1% or 5%, and provider payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 1%, for dates of service on and after March 1, 2009, and until June 1, 2011. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments and payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 10% for dates of service on and after June 1, 2011. This bill would, instead, prohibit the application of those reductions for payments to providers for dates of service on or after June 1, 2011. The bill would also require payments for managed care health plans for dates of service following the effective date of the bill to be determined without application of some of those reductions. The bill would require the Director of Health Care Services to implement this provision to the maximum extent permitted by federal law and for the maximum time period for which the director obtains federal approval for federal financial participation for those payments. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law, the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (act) , provides for the designation of an enforcement agency under specified procedures, including by the board of supervisors of a county for purposes of the county, by the county and the cities within the county pursuant to a joint exercise of powers agreement, by a city council for purposes of the city, or by the board of supervisors of a county for purposes of the unincorporated area of the county. Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to prepare and adopt certification regulations for local enforcement agencies. This bill would provide that the enforcement agency, when exercising the authority or fulfilling the duties specified in certain provisions of the act, would be deemed to be carrying out a state function governed by the act. The bill would also provide that, in carrying out this state function, the enforcement agency would be deemed to be independent from the local governing body and the enforcement agency's actions would not be subject to the authority of the local governing body. The bill would also provide that if an enforcement agency is authorized or required to take an action by a state law or local ordinance and that action is not otherwise authorized or required by certain provisions of the act, the enforcement agency would, with regard to that action, be governed only by that local ordinance or state law. (2) Existing law requires enforcement agencies to perform specified functions with regard to solid waste handling and the issuance and enforcement of solid waste facilities permits, including establishing and maintaining an enforcement program. Existing law allows the enforcement agency to establish specific local standards for solid waste handling and disposal and requires these standards to be consistent with the act. This bill would require those specific local standards for solid waste handling and disposal to be incorporated into the enforcement agency's enforcement program and approved by the department. (3) Existing law requires the enforcement agency, when issuing or revising a solid waste facilities permit, to ensure that primary consideration is given to protecting public health and safety and preventing environmental damage and that the long-term protection of the environment is the guiding criterion. This bill would authorize the enforcement agency, when issuing or revising a solid waste facilities permit, to impose those terms and conditions on a solid waste facilities permit that it deems necessary and appropriate to govern the design and operation of the solid waste facility, for purposes of implementing those policies specified above. (4) Existing law requires an enforcement agency to hold a hearing upon a petition regarding an alleged failure to act as required by law. This bill would instead require the enforcement agency to hold that hearing upon a petition alleging a failure to act pursuant to specified provisions of the act, or the regulations adopted pursuant to specified provisions of the act, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (5) 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 for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments to be reduced by 1% or 5%, and provider payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 1%, for dates of service on and after March 1, 2009, and until June 1, 2011. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments and payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 10% for dates of service on and after June 1, 2011. This bill would instead require that this payment reduction not apply to skilled nursing facilities that are a distinct part of a general acute care hospital, for dates of service on or after July 1, 2013, subject to necessary federal approvals. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law regulates horse racing in this state and provides for the payment and distribution of license fees in connection with horse racing meetings. Existing law establishes the Fair and Exposition Fund to, among other things, allocate moneys for the support of the network of California fairs. Existing law requires certain license fees from satellite wagering to be deposited into a separate account in the Fair and Exposition Fund, and continuously appropriates those moneys for specified purposes, including, among others, the payment of expenses incurred in establishing and operating satellite wagering facilities at fairs. This bill would delete the provisions requiring satellite wagering license fees to be deposited into a separate account in the Fair and Exposition Fund and to be continuously appropriated for specified purposes. The bill would instead require certain revenues paid by racing associations and fairs generated by parimutuel wagering to be deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund and would require those funds to be continuously appropriated for various purposes, including, among others, capital improvements at fairgrounds. The bill would revise requirements for concurrence by the Joint Committee on Fairs, Allocation, and Classification of certain allocations proposed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture. The bill would also require all funds appropriated for California fairs and expositions to be deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund and would continuously appropriate those funds for various purposes. By continuously appropriating the funds in the Fair and Exposition Fund, the bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law provides that the Department of Food and Agriculture is responsible for providing oversight of activities carried out by each California fair, including, but not limited to, conducting fiscal and performance audits of county fairs and citrus fruit fairs that are either requested by the fair or that the department deems necessary, and conducting, or causing to be conducted, annual fiscal audits and periodic compliance audits. This bill would delete the requirement that the department conduct the audits described above and would instead require the department to provide that the books and accounts for the prior calendar year of all fairs receiving money from the Fair and Exposition Fund be examined and reviewed annually and audited once every 3 years by an independent certified public accountant or certified public accountancy firm. The bill would require a summary of the examination to be appended to the fair's annual statement of operations, and would provide that the costs of the annual review or audit be the responsibility of each fair. (3) Existing law requires the Legislature, from the total revenue received from the Department of Food and Agriculture, to annually appropriate moneys to the department as it deems necessary for the oversight of the network of California fairs and to perform audits. Existing law continuously appropriates any of those funds that are unallocated to the Secretary of Food and Agriculture for specified purposes. This bill would delete those provisions and instead would appropriate any unallocated balance in the Fair and Exposition Fund without regard to fiscal years for allocation by the secretary for capital outlay to California fairs for specified purposes. The bill would also specify that a reasonable amount of those funds, as determined by the secretary, may be used during any year by the Division of Fairs and Expositions to provide oversight and administration of the network of fairs. (4) Existing law divides the state into agricultural districts and provides for the management of these districts by district agricultural associations. Existing law provides for a board of directors for each district agricultural association, and provides for the appointment of each director by the Governor. This bill would authorize the Governor to remove a director for cause within one year of the director's appointment. (5) Existing law specifies the duties and responsibilities of district agricultural associations, and requires a district agricultural association to obtain the approval of the Department of Food and Agriculture prior to exercising certain powers, including, among others, the power to sue. Existing law also requires a district agricultural association to obtain the approval of both the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of General Services in order to exercise certain other powers, including the power to conduct activities upon the district agricultural association's property, contract, purchase, or convey an interest in either real or personal property, or to use or manage its real estate or personal property. This bill would revise the duties and responsibilities of the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of General Services with respect to district agricultural associations, and, among other things, would delete the requirement that a district agricultural association obtain the Department of Food and Agriculture's approval prior to suing. The bill would also delete the requirement that a district agricultural association obtain prior approval from both the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of General Services prior to conducting activities upon the district agricultural association's own property, or entering into a contract or exercising powers over its own real or personal property. The bill would require a district agricultural association to comply with specified contracting procedures, including, among others, soliciting bids in writing if the estimated total cost of a project exceeds $25,000. The bill would require a district agricultural association to adopt a fiscal review policy to conduct audits at regular intervals, as specified, and would authorize the Department of Food and Agriculture to require an audit to be conducted at an earlier time if the department deems it necessary to protect the interests of the district agricultural association. The bill would specify that the title, control, and possession of all personal property acquired, held, managed, or operated by a district agricultural association vests with the district agricultural association. The bill would delete a provision requiring the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to expend up to $100,000 each fiscal year for an exhibit or exhibits at a fair that demonstrates the process of production and use of food and fiber, and would also delete a requirement that the secretary provide for a conference of fair judges to aid the Department of Food and Agriculture in prescribing regulations, and to expend up to $15,000 for that purpose. The bill would make other conforming and related changes. (6) Under existing law, the Department of General Services exercises oversight of the acquisition and replacement of motor vehicles, and the acquisition of certain mobile equipment, by state agencies, and defines "state agency" for those purposes. This bill would exclude a district agricultural association from that definition. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would request the Congress of the United States to, among other things, act immediately to avert federal spending cuts known as "sequestration" to protect the California and national economies.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law requires the department to seek a successor demonstration project or federal waiver of Medicaid law to implement specified objectives, which may include better care coordination for seniors, persons with disabilities, and children with special health care needs. Existing law provides that beginning with services provided on or after July 1, 2013, to the extent that additional federal funding is made available pursuant to the Special Terms and Conditions of the demonstration project or waiver, nondesignated public hospitals shall be eligible to receive safety net care pool payments for uncompensated care costs. This bill would require nondesignated public hospitals to report and certify specified information for the 2012–13 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter. Existing law authorizes a transferring entity, as defined, to make an intergovernmental transfer (IGT) to the state, and authorizes the department to accept all IGTs from a transferring entity for the purpose of providing support for the nonfederal share of risk-based payments to managed care health plans to enable those plans to compensate providers designated by the transferring entity for Medi-Cal health care services and support of the Medi-Cal program. Existing law, with some exceptions, authorizes the state to assess a fee of 20% on each IGT to reimburse the department for the administrative costs of operating the IGT program and for the support of the Medi-Cal program. This bill would provide that the 20% assessment shall not apply to nondesignated public hospitals. The bill would also require the department to pay rate range increases, as defined, to Medi-Cal managed care plans that contract with the department to provide Medi-Cal services in specified counties for the purpose of providing additional payments to nondesignated public hospitals for purposes of equaling the amount of reimbursement the nondesignated public hospital would have received through certified public expenditures under the fee-for-service payment methodology.
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 requires health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2000, to provide coverage for the diagnosis and medically necessary treatment of severe mental illnesses, as defined, and of serious emotional disturbances of a child, as specified, under the same terms and conditions applied to other medical conditions. Existing federal law, the federal Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) requires group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure that financial requirements and treatment limitations applicable to mental health or substance use disorder benefits are no more restrictive than the predominant requirements or limitations applied to substantially all medical and surgical benefits. Existing state law requires individual and small group health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2014, to comply with MHPAEA. This bill would, on or after October 1, 2014, require every health care service plan that provides hospital, medical, or surgical coverage, every specialized mental health care service plan that contracts with a health care service plan to provide mental health services, and every health insurer to submit an annual report to the Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance, as appropriate, certifying compliance with specified state laws and the MHPAEA, except as provided. The bill would require the departments to collaborate with each other and consult with experts and stakeholders to create the standards for the form and content of those reports on or before July 1, 2014. The bill would require those departments to report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2020, on the information obtained through those annual reports. The bill would require the reports to be a public record made available upon request and to be published on the respective departments' Internet Web sites. The bill would require those plans and insurers to conduct surveys of enrollees, insureds, and providers as part of the report, as specified. The bill would prohibit the inclusion of any information that may individually identify enrollees or insureds in the reports submitted to the respective departments pursuant to the provisions described above. Because a willful violation of the bill's provisions by a health care service plan 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 authorizes various local government entities, subject to certain limitations and approval requirements, to levy a transactions and use tax for specific purposes in accordance with the procedures and requirements set forth in the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law, including the requirement that the combined rate of all taxes that may be imposed under that law in the county not exceed 2%. This bill would authorize the County of Sonoma or any city within the county to impose a transactions and use tax for general purposes, and the county, any city within the county, or the Sonoma County Transportation Authority to impose a transactions and use tax for a specific purpose or purposes, which may include the support of transportation and road maintenance programs and library services, that would, in combination with other specified taxes, exceed the combined rate limit by 0.5%, if certain requirements are met. These provisions would be repealed by their own terms on January 1, 2022, if the ordinance is not approved, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Sonoma.
Existing law establishes the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund in the State Treasury, and requires that all revenues received from specified assessments imposed on certain timber and engineered wood products, less amounts deducted for specified refunds and reimbursements, be deposited into the fund, and used, upon appropriation, only for specified purposes including, among other things, by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide grants to certain public and private entities for fire protection, wildland fire suppression, and activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote adaptation of forested landscapes to changing climate, improve forest health, and protect homes and communities. This bill would additionally authorize moneys from the fund, upon appropriation, to be used by the department to provide grants to remediate former marijuana growing operations.
Existing law establishes a public school financing system that requires state funding for county superintendents of schools, school districts, and charter schools to be calculated pursuant to a local control funding formula. As part of the local control funding formula, existing law requires a school district or charter school to receive state-aid funding of no less than the sum of certain amounts received in the 2012–13 fiscal year, including, among other amounts, the 2012–13 fiscal year funding allowance provided for qualifying necessary small elementary schools and necessary small high schools. Existing law defines a necessary small high school as either (1) a high school with an average daily attendance of less than 287 pupils that meets specified conditions, or (2) a high school maintained by a school district for the exclusive purpose of educating juvenile hall pupils or pupils with exceptional needs. This bill would add to the definition of a necessary small high school a high school maintained by a unified school district as the only high school if the high school has an average daily attendance of fewer than 286 pupils and the school district has 50 or fewer pupils, as measured by enrollment, per square mile of school district territory.