Schwarzenegger Signs, Vetoes Medi-Cal Legislation

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Friday and Saturday acted on a number of bills related to Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program.

Signed

Schwarzenegger on Friday signed:

SB 1469 by Sen. Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), which will require counties to help determine whether juveniles held in county detention centers are eligible for Medi-Cal and to begin application procedures for the program (Bill text, 8/29).
SB 1520 by Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny (D-Chula Vista), which addresses modifications to payments from the state to public hospitals that provide services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries and uninsured people (Bill text, 8/31).
SB 1528, by Sen. Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach), which will require Medi-Cal to cover the cost of some home infusion medications for pregnant women (Bill text, 8/29).
SB 1569, by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-San Francisco), which will extend eligibility for Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and some other social service programs to noncitizens who have experienced domestic violence, human trafficking or other crimes. To receive the benefits, noncitizens would have to be otherwise eligible for the programs and working to meet federal eligibility requirements (Bill text, 8/30).
AB 1755, by Sen. Wes Chesbro (D-Santa Rosa), which will permit six months of authorization for Medi-Cal coverage of adult day health care services, provided that the adult day health care center initiates the request (Bill text, 8/30).

Schwarzenegger on Friday also signed AB 2631 by Assembly member John Laird (D-Santa Cruz). The law requires DHS to publish a medical drug benefit utilization policy within 180 days of FDA approving the injectable form of a drug that is not administered by a patient (Bill text, 8/28).

On Saturday, the governor signed:

SB 458 by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo), which will permit commissions organized by counties to provide Medi-Cal services to provide services to other local groups if no Medi-Cal funds are used for the services (Bill text, 8/23).
AB 2918 by Assembly member Lois Wolk (D-Vacaville), which will allow county boards of supervisors to create commissions to coordinate health care delivery systems to treat local residents. The law eliminates a provision of a state law that restricted such activity to Santa Cruz and Monterey counties (Bill text, 8/21).
AB 2968 by Assembly member Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), which will require DHS to develop a program to offer community-living support benefits to eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries (Bill text, 8/24).

Vetoes

Gov. Schwarzenegger on Friday vetoed:

AB 2639 by Assembly member Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), which would have prohibited relatives of Medi-Cal beneficiaries who receive limited adult day health care services from being charged more than the standard fee for the services (Bill text, 8/28).
AB 2732 by Assembly member Joe Baca (D-San Bernardino), which would have required DHS and organizations that contract with Medi-Cal to provide fiscal intermediary services to facilitate electronic data transmission from participating health care providers (Bill text, 8/24).
AB 2742 by Assembly member Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara), which would have required Medi-Cal managed care plans to reimburse at the standard Medi-Cal rate providers who provide family planning services through the Family PACT program (Bill text, 8/31).

Schwarzenegger on Saturday vetoed AB 2004 by Assembly member Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), which would have prohibited DHS from terminating eligibility for Medi-Cal for juveniles who are being held as inmates. The bill would have permitted DHS to suspend eligibility (Bill text, 8/28). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.