Health Financing

The Senate Health Committee scheduled a June 14 hearing for AB 774 by Assembly member Wilma Chan (D-Oakland) (StateNet, Subscription required). The bill would require hospitals to develop a policy for determining the financial liability for services provided to patients eligible for public or private health insurance assistance and self-pay patients. The policy would have to include procedures used to determine whether a patient is eligible for charity care, as well as the hospital's financial criteria for providing charity care. The bill also would require hospitals to notify patients of the policies and attempt to determine whether patients are eligible for health insurance coverage (Bill text, 6/16/05).