Health Care Legislation Approved
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Monday signed eight health care-related bills (Office of the Governor release, 9/18). Summaries appear below.
SB 1273, by Sen. Nell Soto (D-Ontario), will permit private, not-for-profit aging agencies to join CalPERS. The agencies would first be required to get a specified advisory opinion from the Department of Labor (Bill text, 9/18).
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SB 896, by Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster), will permit public agencies that outsource emergency health care services to also contract for emergency care for local inmates. The law will take effect immediately as an emergency statute (Bill text, 9/18).
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SB 1810, by Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Garden Grove), will extend indefinitely a provision of state law that prohibits the insurance commissioner from approving rate increases for long-term care insurance above a certain level. Exceptions to the ban on rate increases were preserved (Bill text, 9/18).
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AB 1316, by Assembly members Simon Salinas (D-Salinas) and Rebecca Cohn (D-Campbell), will permit hospital district boards of directors to indemnify nonemployee members of the medical staff in civil actions related to nonemployees' participation in medical peer review (Bill text, 9/18).
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AB 1880, by Assembly member Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo), for the next three years will require the director of the Atascadero State Hospital by June 30 to present to its board of directors a strategic plan for the facility (Bill text, 9/18).
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AB 2156, by Assembly member Roger Niello (R-Sacramento), will establish new staffing requirements for clinical laboratories and new requirements for clinical laboratory operations, including verification of test results (Bill text, 9/18).
- AB 3070, by the Health Committee, will permit designated public hospitals that receive safety net funds for Medicaid beneficiaries to count certified expenditures by public agencies affiliated with the hospital toward spending eligible for safety net funds. The law makes additional changes to how hospital safety net funds are disbursed (Bill text, 9/18).
AB 3041, by Assembly member Fran Pavley (D-Woodland Hills), will permit CalPERS members to enroll in a health plan including prescription drug coverage or a prescription drug plan under the Medicare drug benefit. The law amends existing state law that barred CalPERS members enrolled in the Medicare drug benefit from enrolling in health plans other than Medicare Advantage plans (Bill text, 9/18).
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