Summaries of All Assembly Bills Heard

by the Committee in 2005– 2006

BILL # / AUTHOR / SUMMARY / STATUS
8 / Chu / Medi-Cal: AIDS and Cancer Treatment Drugs: Manufacturer Rebates. Removes the sunset date from existing law that requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide a state rebate for HIV-AIDS and cancer drugs added to the Medi-Cal list of contract drugs and reimbursed through the Medi-Cal outpatient fee-for-service program. / Chapter 127, Statutes of 2005
10 / Daucher / Appropriate Facility Placement Standards. Requires the Department of Health Services (DHS), in consultation with organizations representing consumers who are elderly or disabled and other interested stakeholders, to adopt, by July 1, 2007, a statewide uniform documentation tool, as specified, in compliance with the standards set forth in the United States Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C. by Zimring, regarding community placement of persons with disabilities and the elderly. / Died in Senate Appropriations
21 / Levine / Pharmacists: Practice Requirements. Requires pharmacists to dispense a lawful prescription unless certain specified circumstances exist, including allowing a pharmacist to decline on ethical, moral, or religious grounds to dispense a drug if the pharmacist satisfies certain conditions. Deems a violation of these provisions unprofessional conduct and harassment, as specified. / Died in
Senate Health
36 / Strickland / Substance Abuse: Adult Recovery Maintenance Facilities. Requires the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (DADP) to license Adult Recovery Maintenance Facilities (ARMFs). Applies existing alcohol and drug abuse treatment recovery or treatment facilities licensure requirements to ARMFs. / Died in Senate Appropriations
65 / Daucher / Medi-Cal: Health Care Benefits. Authorizes County Organized Health Systems (COHS) to extend their Medi-Cal delivery systems to individuals eligible for Medicare or dually eligible for both Medi-Cal and Medicare. Allows COHS to compete with private managed care plans for Medicare beneficiaries to capture additional enrollment. Allows COHS additional flexibility to develop delivery systems for individuals dually eligible for Medi-Cal and Medicare. / Chapter 13, Statutes of 2005
71 / Chan/
Frommer / Pharmaceuticals: Adverse Drug Reactions: Drug Safety and Effectiveness Program. Requests the University of California (UC) to establish a program to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of prescription drugs in the state, as specified, and establish an Internet Web site to disseminate program information to health care professionals and consumers. Establishes a Drug Safety and Effectiveness Program Fund, requires the state Department of Health Services, in consultation with UC, to determine a fee on manufacturers of drugs sold in the state, as specified, and requires the State Board of Equalization to assess and collect the fee. / Failed Passage on Senate Floor
73 / Frommer/
Chan / Prescription Drugs: Importation: Procurement. Requires the Department of Health Services to establish a website to provide Californians information on obtaining lower cost prescription drugs. Specifies that information on federal, state, and private pharmaceutical programs, as well as information on the availability of drugs in Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, be included on the website. / Vetoed by the Governor
74 / Gordon/
Frommer / California Rx Prescription Drug Hotline. Requires the Department of Health Services to establish the California Rx Prescription Drug Hotline, on or before July 1, 2006, to provide information to consumers and health care providers about options for obtaining prescription drugs at affordable prices. / Provisions Removed from Version Heard in Committee
75 / Frommer/
Chan / Pharmaceutical Assistance Program. Establishes the California Rx Plus State Pharmacy Assistance Program, to be administered by the Department of Health Services. / Died in
Senate Health
76 / Frommer/
Chan / Office of Pharmaceutical Purchasing. Repeals provisions of existing law authorizing the Department of General Services (DGS) to negotiate contracts for prescription drugs for specified state agencies and other entities. Establishes the Office of Pharmaceutical Purchasing (OPP) within the California Health and Human Services Agency with authority and duties to purchase prescription drugs for state agencies similar to that granted to DGS. Requires the OPP to be the purchasing agency for the California State University, any other state agency as directed by the Governor, and other entities that elected to participate in the purchasing program. Requires the OPP to conduct specified activities in order to negotiate the lowest prices possible for prescription drugs. / Vetoed by the Governor
77 / Frommer / Medi-Cal: Clinics: Reimbursement. Revises the pharmaceutical goods and services reimbursement formula for federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics. / Chapter 503, Statutes of 2005
78 / Pavley / Pharmacy Benefits Management. Requires pharmacy benefits managers to annually make specified disclosures to their clients, including potential conflicts of interest, drug pricing information and drug utilization reports. Provides for the disclosed information to be kept confidential by the clients. / Vetoed by the Governor
83 / Leslie / Public Swimming Pools: Cameron Park Community Services District. Exempts the Cameron Park Community Services District manmade lake and swimming lagoon with a sand bottom from the Department of Health Services (DHS) swimming pool water clarity standards upon the approval of the local health officer, and requires DHS to form a committee to review whether manmade lakes and swimming lagoons with sand bottoms should be regulated to the same water clarity standard as swimming pools. / Chapter 283, Statutes of 2005
89 / Jerome Horton / Health Care: Employer Coverage: Disclosure. Requires the Department of Health Services and the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board to collaborate in preparing a report that identifies all employers who employ 25 or more persons who are beneficiaries, or who support beneficiaries, enrolled in the Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and Access for Infants and Mothers programs. / Vetoed by the Governor
119 / Strickland / Medi-Cal: HIV Drug Treatment: Developmental Services: Financing. Increases the amount from $2 billion to $4 billion in the continuously appropriated Medical Providers Interim Payment fund to be used to pay for Medi-Cal expenses after the beginning of a fiscal year in which there is no enacted state budget. / Died in Senate Appropriations
121 / Vargas / Adulterated Candy: Maximum Allowable Lead Levels. Requires the Department of Health Services (DHS) to regulate lead content in candy. Requires DHS to test for candy lead content, prohibit the sale of adulterate candy as defined. Requires DHS to test candy to determine the presence of lead that exceeds “naturally-occurring levels of lead” as determined by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Requires DHS to adopt regulations. Requires DHS to convene an interagency collaborative. / Chapter 707, Statutes of 2005
132 / Nunez, et al. / Medi-Cal: Prescription Drug Benefit. Requires the Department of Health Services, beginning on January 12, 2006, and concluding 15 calendar days later, to provide drug benefits, under specified conditions, to a person enrolled in Medicare, who is also enrolled in Medi-Cal and receiving prescription drug benefits, and who is not able to obtain drug benefits from his or her prescription drug plan under the Medicare program. / Chapter 2,
Statues of 2006
228 / Koretz / Transplantation Services: Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Prohibits a health plan or health insurer from denying coverage that is otherwise available under a contract or policy for solid organ or other tissue transplantation because the insured is infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. / Chapter 419, Statutes of 2005
240 / Bermudez / Sex Offenders. Prohibits a parolee convicted of specified offences involving a victim 14 or 15 years of age from living within one-quarter mile of any public or private school including any or all of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, for the duration of his or her parole. / Vetoed by the Governor
258 / Matthew / Medi-Cal: Durable Medical Equipment. Requires, effective July 1, 2006, that any Medi-Cal provider of custom rehabilitation equipment and custom rehabilitation technology services ensure that a qualified rehabilitation professional determines the need for, and supervises the fitting of, such equipment. / Chapter 523, Statutes of 2005
264 / Chan / Health Care Service Plans: Pediatric Asthma. Requires health plans that cover outpatient prescription drugs to cover certain forms of outpatient pediatric asthma self-management training and education. / Vetoed by the Governor
327 / De La
Torre / Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program: Fees. Permits the Medical Board of California (MBC) to give a physician and surgeon the option of making a $50 voluntary donation upon the initial issuance or biennial renewal of a physician and surgeon’s certificate in order to fund the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program. Requires the MBC to deposit any money collected pursuant to this bill in the Medically Underserved Account for the purpose of supporting the Thompson Program. / Chapter 293, Statutes of 2005
330 / Gordon / General Acute Care, Acute Psychiatric and Special Hospitals: Management Requirements. Requires the Department of Health Services to consider whether an applicant who seeks a general acute care hospital, acute psychiatric hospital, or special hospital license is of reputable and responsible character, has demonstrated an ability to comply with licensing laws and regulations and has sufficient financial resources to operate the facility. / Chapter 507, Statutes of 2005
354 / Cogdill / Telemedicine. Expands the definition of telemedicine to include the use of “store and forward” technology for two applications, teledermatology and teleophthalmology services, and allows Medi-Cal reimbursement for these two types of services provided by health care practitioners via telemedicine. / Chapter 449, Statutes of 2005
356 / Chan / Health Care Coverage: Rating And Underwriting Criteria. Requires health plans and health insurers to inform applicants for individual coverage of the reasons for their denial and of the availability of the state’s high-risk insurance pool. Requires health plans and insurers to have written policies, procedures and underwriting guidelines for making decisions to provide or deny coverage to individuals and to report those guidelines to the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) and the California Department of Insurance (CDI). Requires health plans and insurers to report to DMHC and CDI the rates at which they deny applications for individual coverage. / Chapter 526, Statutes of 2005
360 / Frommer / Skilled Nursing Facilities. Exempts units that provide pediatric subacute services in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and institutions for mental disease from a SNF requirement to pay a quality assurance fee. Exempts these SNF pediatric subacute units from the SNF facility-specific rate-setting system created by AB 1629 (Frommer, Chapter 825, Statutes of 2004). / Chapter 508, Statutes of 2005
379 / Koretz / Smoking in Vehicles with Minor Passengers. Makes it an infraction for a person to smoke a pipe, cigar or cigarette in a vehicle, whether in motion or at rest, in which there is a child passenger who is required to be secured in a child passenger restraining system. / Died on
Assembly Floor
392 / Chan / County Integrated Health and Human Services. Permits any county, with the assistance and participation of the appropriate state departments to implement a program for the funding and delivery of services and benefits through an integrated and comprehensive county health and human services system, as specified. / Provisions Removed from Version Heard in Committee
436 / Plescia / Medi-Cal: Speech Devices. Increases Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for speech-generating devices. Places in statute the terms of court settlement (Joseph Q. v Shewry), issued in October 2004. / Provisions Removed from Version Heard in Committee
443 / Yee / School Food Sales. Requires the State Board of Education to review, and revise as appropriate, the regulations on student organization food sales, and authorizes the California Department of Education to review school district compliance with these regulations within the Coordinated Review Effort. / Vetoed by the Governor
444 / Yee / School Food: Nutrition Guidelines. Adds to the requirement that the California Department of Education develop nutrition guidelines for all food and beverages sold on public school campuses to include all food and beverages served, as well as sold. Expands the nutrition information contained in the guidelines to cover sugar and sodium. / Vetoed by the Governor
460 / Parra / Contagious Diseases. Permits the California Department of Food and Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to carry out a program for the prevention and control of Avian Influenza; requires the adoption of regulations as needed to implement such program requirements created by the agreement; and, adds legislative intent language. / Chapter 609, Statutes of 2005
467 / Yee / Mental Health: Hospital Contracts: Reimbursement. Requests the Department of Mental Health, in consultation with the California Hospital Association and the California Mental Health Directors Association, to evaluate the rate setting methodology used for fee-for-service Medi-Cal non-contracting hospitals and recommend to the Legislature by September 1, 2006, an alternative ratesetting structure. / Vetoed by the Governor
469 / Yee / School Food: Nutrition Guidelines. Expands the current requirement that the California Department of Education develop nutrition guidelines for all food and beverages sold on public school campuses to include all food and beverages served, as well as sold. Expands the nutritional information contained in the guidelines to include sugar and sodium. / Vetoed by the Governor
522 / Plescia/Bogh / Automated Drug Delivery System: Medi-Cal Coverage: Drugs or Other Therapies: Registered Sex Offenders. Prohibits the Department of Health Services from paying for any prescription drug or other therapy to treat erectile dysfunction for registered sex offenders, and authorizes the Department of Justice to share information with the Department of Health Services concerning registered sex offenders for this purpose. / Chapter 469, Statutes of 2005
530 / Plescia / Medi-Cal: Withholding Payments or Suspension: Informal Hearing. Requires the Department of Health Services to develop a process for conferring with a Medi-Cal provider after the department sanctions the provider. / Chapter 543, Statutes of 2006
547 / Berg/Richman / Clean Needle and Syringe Exchange Projects. Creates the Clean Needle and Syringe Exchange Program, which eliminates the statutory requirement for a declaration of a local emergency by a public entity in order to operate a needle exchange program. / Chapter 692, Statutes of 2005
569 / Garcia / Pupil Nutrition: Food Service. Requires all food and beverages sold or served in K-12 public schools to be in coordination with the school food service program, requires a school district that renews or enters into a contract with a commercial food vendor to make information available on the nutritional content of all food items sold, and prohibits specified a la carte sales during breakfast and lunch periods at middle and junior high schools. / Provisions Removed from Version Heard in Committee
576 / Wolk / Immunizations. Authorizes local health officers, health care providers, health plans and other public agencies to share information on the immunization status of children for the purposes of patient care or public health, prohibits sharing of immunization records if parents or patients object, requires that such information be treated as confidential, and requires the Department of Health Services to create a sustainability plan for a statewide immunization plan. / Chapter 329, Statutes of 2006
586 / Negrete
McLeod / Medical Disaster Mobilization. Authorizes the designation of a Medical/Health Operational Area Coordinator in each county to be the point of contact for regional disaster medical/health coordinators and others in the event of a local, state, or federal emergency. Identifies functions that should be included in a medical and health disaster system and requires by June 30, 2006, the state Department of Health Services and the Emergency Medical Services Authority to adopt disaster medical and health preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation regulations and guidelines. / Chapter 703, Statutes of 2006
591 / Yee / Medi-Cal: Local Health Authorities and Commissions: Joint Powers Agreements. Requires licensed health plans established under joint powers authority for the purpose of contracting as a local initiative under the Medi-Cal program to meet all of the requirements in existing law applicable to local initiatives regarding governance, public records requirements, open meeting requirements, and conflicts of interest, unless otherwise specified in the joint powers agreement. / Provisions Removed from Version Heard in Committee
599 / Gordon / Mental Health Account: Primary Goals: California Veterans. Specifies that veterans in need of mental health services who are not eligible for care by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) or other federal health care are prioritized as “targeted populations” and should be provided services to the extent resources are available. Requires counties to refer a veteran to the county veterans service officer, if any, to determine the veteran’s eligibility for, and the availability of, mental health services provided by USDVA or other federal health care provider. / Chapter 221, Statutes of 2005
624 / Montanez / Medi-Cal program: Healthy Families Program: Child Health and Disability Prevention Program. Requires the Department of Health Services, and the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board to deem any child who meets the income requirements for the Child Health and Disability Prevention program to have met requirements for the Healthy Families and Medi-Cal programs and to establish a one-step process for enrollment into the Child Health and Disability Prevention program and Medi-Cal and/or Healthy Families. / Vetoed by the Governor
631 / Leno / Narcotic Treatment Programs: Mobile Service Units. Requires the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs to create a licensing category for mobile narcotic treatment programs. / Chapter 544, Statutes of 2006
688 / Matthews / Health Facilities: Quality Assurance Fees. Exempts Intermediate Care Facilities Developmentally Disabled from the Medi-Cal payment delays in the current and subsequent three budget years. Restores one additional Medi-Cal check write for this class of facilities in each of the affected budget years. / Vetoed by the Governor
699 / Chan / Vaccines: Influenza. Requires the Department of Health Services (DHS) to annually determine the amount of influenza vaccine that is available and the amount of the vaccine needed for the states population, and make this information available on its web site. Requires manufacturers and distributors of influenza vaccine and nonprofit service plans that contract with a single medical group to report information to DHS about influenza vaccine sold in California. Requires entities that possess influenza vaccine or conduct influenza clinics to cooperate with local health officers in determining local inventories. / Chapter 589, Statutes of 2006