MHAC Priority Legislation

MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Waldron

Date: 04/18/2024

Existing law imposes various functions and duties on the State Department of State Hospitals with respect to the administration of state institutions for the mentally disordered. Existing law authorizes the Director of State Hospitals to deposit funds of patients in trust, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the hospital administrator, with the consent of the patient, to deposit the interest or increment on the funds of the patient in the state hospital in a special fund for each state hospital, designated the “Benefit Fund,” and requires the hospital administrator to be the trustee of the fund. Existing law authorizes the hospital administrator, with the approval of the Director of State Hospitals, to expend moneys in the fund for the education or entertainment of the patients of the institution. Existing law requires that the hospital administrator take into consideration the recommendations of representatives from patient government before expending any moneys in the fund. Existing law authorizes the moneys in the fund to be expended for the education or entertainment of the patients of the institution. This bill would additionally authorize the funds to be expended for the welfare of the patients of the institution.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: McCarty

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would add a representative of a community-based organization with experience in successfully providing behavioral health treatment services to persons who have been convicted of a criminal offense, and a representative of a Medi-Cal managed care plan that provides the Enhanced Care Management benefit, to the membership of the Community Corrections Partnership. This bill would require the executive  committee of the CCP to consist of all 3 of the departments mentioned above and would require the department head to have the number of votes equivalent to the number of departments they represent. The bill would require the plan to, among other things, include quantifiable goals for improving the community corrections system. The bill would require the local partnership to submit the accepted plan annually to the Board of State and Community Corrections. This bill would require each county to submit the County Community Corrections Outcomes, Accountability, and Transparency report annually to the Board of State and Community Corrections that includes, among other things, the number of people who have a serious mental illness or substance use disorder who are connected to community-based treatment and support upon release from jail or completion of community supervision. The bill would require each county’s board of supervisors to verify that the report is complete and accurate before it is submitted to the board. Because this bill would expand the duties for certain local officials, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the board to create the Community Corrections Outcomes, Accountability, and Transparency dashboard that displays the county’s goals mentioned above and the spending and outcomes data reported in the County Community Corrections Outcomes, Accountability, and Transparency report. The bill would require the dashboard to be accessible through the board’s internet website.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Boerner

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill proposes changes to Medi-Cal eligibility redetermination procedures, seeking to extend continuous eligibility to individuals over 19 years old with federal approval. The bill mandates various adjustments to the redetermination process, including enhanced communication efforts by counties, acceptance of self-attested income information, and entitlement to Medi-Cal eligibility determination. Additionally, the bill requires counties to collect call-center data metrics, sets a target rate for successful ex parte renewals, and aims to make permanent temporary eligibility rules implemented during the COVID-19 Unwinding Period.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Jackson

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to access to mental health care.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Bonta

Date: 04/18/2024

Existing law allows for patients to submit complaints to the department regarding health facilities. Existing law also requires the department to establish a centralized consumer response unit within the Licensing and Certification Division of the department to respond to consumer inquiries and complaints.This bill would require the department to include a section for complaints involving specified health facilities to collect information about outlined demographic factors of affected patients. The bill would require the department to include a section on the Complaint Against a Health Care Facility/Provider form on the department’s internet website, and provide means for complaints submitted via mail, fax, or by telephone, for complaints involving specified health facilities. The bill would require the department to inform complainants that the information collected is voluntary, is to ensure patients receive the best care possible, and will not affect the department’s investigation. The bill would require that complainants shall be provided the option to refer the complaint to the Civil Rights Department, and the department will provide the complaint to the Civil Rights Department only when requested to do so by the complainant. The bill would require the department to develop an outreach program to provide patients, consumers, and members of the public with specified information regarding the complaint process.   Existing law requires a health facility to develop, implement, and comply with a patient safety plan to improve the health and safety of patients and to reduce preventable patient safety events. The patient safety plan requires specified elements, including, but not limited to, a reporting system for patient safety events that allows anyone involved to make a report of a patient safety event to the health facility, and a process for a team of facility staff to conduct analyses related to root causes of patient safety events. This bill would require the reporting system to include anonymous reporting options. The bill would also require analysis of patient safety events by sociodemographic factors to identify disparities in these events. The bill would require that the safety plan include a process for addressing racism and discrimination and its impacts on patient health and safety, including monitoring sociodemographic disparities in patient safety events and developing interventions to remedy known disparities, and encouraging facility staff to report suspected instances of racism and discrimination. The bill would require, beginning January 1, 2026, and biannually thereafter, that health facilities submit patient safety plans to the department’s licensing and certification division. The bill would authorize the department to impose a fine not to exceed $5,000 on health facilities for failure to adopt, update, or submit patient safety plans, and would authorize the department to grant an automatic 60-day extension to submit biannual patient safety plans. The bill would require the department to make all patient safety plans submitted by health facilities available to the public on its internet website. Existing law requires the department to provide information regarding reports of substantiated adverse events and the outcomes of those investigations on the department’s internet website and in written form that is readily accessible to consumers and protects patient confidentiality.This bill would require the department to engage stakeholders to provide input on the usability and accessibility of the information available to stakeholders, including consumers. The bill would require the department to compile and make available to the Department of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice data regarding substantiated adverse events and the outcomes of inspections and investigations conducted as a result of an adverse event.

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MHAC Position: Support

Author: Pellerin

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would instead require the records, books, and papers of a health care service plan and other specified entities to be open to inspection by the director, including through electronic means. The bill would require a plan and other specified entities to furnish in electronic media records, books, and papers that are possessed in electronic media and to conduct a diligent review of records, books, and papers and make every effort to furnish those responsive to the director’s request. The bill would require records, books, and papers to be furnished in a format that is digitally searchable, to the greatest extent feasible. The bill would authorize the director to inspect and copy these records, books, and papers, and to seek relief in an administrative law proceeding if, in the director’s determination, a plan or other specified entity fails to fully or timely respond to a duly authorized request for production of records, books, and papers. Because a willful violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Wilson

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, authorize the superior courts in the Counties of Sacramento, San Diego, Contra Costa, and Solano to conduct a pilot program to provide specific supportive services to adult defendants who participate in the county’s drug court, as specified. The bill would require the Judicial Council to administer the program and would authorize the council to establish guidelines and reporting requirements for the participating drug courts. This bill would require a participating drug court to enroll eligible defendants in specific supportive services unless a defendant refuses or is already enrolled in those services. The bill would require a county probation department or another county department designated by the court, to administer the supportive services payments and reimbursements. By increasing the duties of county agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.This bill would require participating drug courts to collect and submit specific data to the Judicial Council. The bill would also require the Judicial Council to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature and the Governor on or before January 1, 2028, that compares the data gathered by the participating drug courts to other similar, nonparticipating drug courts, as specified.The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2029.

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MHAC Position: Support

Author: Pellerin

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would require that utilization review decisions be made within 72 hours when an enrollee’s condition is urgent, and would make a determination of urgency by a referring or treating health care provider binding on the health care service plan. If a health care service plan fails to make a utilization review decision within the applicable 72-hour or 30-day timeline, the bill would automatically entitle an enrollee to proceed with a grievance. This bill would require a plan’s grievance system to include expedited review of urgent grievances and would make a determination of urgency by a referring or treating health care provider binding on the health care service plan. The bill would require a plan to communicate its final grievance determination within 72 hours of receipt if urgent and 30 days if nonurgent. If a plan fails to make a utilization review decision within the applicable 72-hour or 30-day timeline, the bill would require a grievance to be automatically resolved in favor of the enrollee. This bill would require the department to provide specified correspondence and documents to an enrollee and their representative, if applicable, if the enrollee has submitted a grievance for review under the Independent Medical Review System. The bill would require the department to provide an enrollee and their representative a reasonable opportunity to respond to communications between the department and the plan or the independent review organization before the grievance is adjudicated. The bill would prohibit the department and its independent medical review organization from engaging in ex parte communication with a plan, enrollee, or their representatives during the grievance process. If a grievance is filed internally with an insurer, this bill would require an insurer to communicate its final grievance determination within 72 hours of receipt if urgent and 30 days if nonurgent. Upon notice from the department to a disability insurer that an insured has submitted a grievance to the department, the bill would require an insurer to respond within 24 hours, if directed by the department, regarding an urgent grievance or within 5 calendar days regarding a nonurgent grievance.This bill would require the department to determine whether or not a grievance is urgent unless the insured’s referring or treating provider has already designated the grievance as urgent. The bill would require the department to provide specified correspondence and documents to an insured and their representative, if applicable, if the insured has submitted a grievance for review under the Independent Medical Review System. The bill would require the department to provide an insured and their representative a reasonable opportunity to respond to communications between the department and the insurer or the independent review organization before the grievance is adjudicated. The bill would prohibit the department and its independent medical review organization from engaging in ex parte communication with an insurer, insured, or their representatives during the grievance process, except as specified.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Blakespear

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill, by January 1, 2030, would require each city and county to provide housing opportunities, as defined, for homeless individuals within its jurisdiction, based on their most recent point-in-time count. The bill would require each city and county to develop a housing obligation plan that describes how the city or county plans to increase housing opportunities in its jurisdiction so that it can offer at least one housing opportunity to each homeless individual, as specified. In this regard, the bill would require a housing obligation plan to include, among other things, goals and plans to fulfill the city or county’s housing obligation, including specific projects and completion timelines, and the city or county’s progress in reducing the number of homeless individuals in its jurisdiction. The bill would require a housing obligation plan to identify steps taken by the city or county to consult with other jurisdictions to ensure that the plan is consistent with regional homelessness planning efforts. The bill would require a city or county to submit its housing obligation plan to the Department of Housing and Community Development for review and post the plan to its internet website by January 1, 2025. The bill would require a city or county to update its housing obligation plan on or before January 1 of each subsequent year.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Umberg

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would, upon appropriation, establish the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Scholarship Program. The bill would require the department to administer the annual scholarship for purposes of increasing the number of culturally competent licensed marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, professional clinical counselors, and psychologists, as specified. The bill would require scholarship recipients to agree to work for county behavioral health agencies in meeting its needs and obligations to implement the CARE Act for a minimum of 3 years upon being licensed to practice in this state. The bill would require the department to post information related to the scholarship on its internet website.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Caballero

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for this express purpose, require the California Department of Housing and Community Development, commencing January 1, 2024, to begin developing the Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities Housing Stability Program. The bill would require the department, in administering the program, to offer competitive grants to nonprofit community-based organizations, continuums of care, public housing authorities, and area agencies on aging, as specified, to administer a housing subsidy program for older adults and adults with disabilities who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, as defined.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Wiener

Date: 11/30/2022

Status: Vetoed

Controlled substances: overdose prevention program: This bill would create a pilot program for the City and County of San Francisco, the County of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, and the City of Oakland to approve entities to operate overdose prevention programs that satisfy specified requirements including providing a hygienic space supervised by trained staff where people who use drugs can consume pre- obtained drugs, providing sterile consumption supplies, providing access or referrals to substance use disorder treatment, and that staff is authorized and trained to provide an opioid antagonist.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Wiener

Date: 09/27/2022

Status: Passed

Health Care Coverage: Timely access to care: This bill would require a health care service plan or health insurer to incorporate timely access to care standards into its quality assurance systems and incorporate specified processes. The bill would authorize the Department of Managed Health Care to develop methodologies to demonstrate appointment wait time compliance and averages. The bill would authorize DMHC and the Department of Insurance to take compliance or disciplinary action, review and adopt standards concerning the availability of health care to ensure enrollees and insureds have timely access to care and make recommendations to the Legislature if DMHC or DOI finds that health care service plans or health insurers and providers have difficulty meeting the standards the departments develop.

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MHAC Position: Support

Author: Wiener

Date: 04/18/2024

Under SB 294, denials will be filed automatically as grievances with health plans. Life-threatening/urgent denials and unresolved grievances will then be referred to the IMR process, without burdening consumers to fight for care. This bill will also strengthen SB 855, a mental health parity law which requires plans to provide medically necessary mental health treatment.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Stern

Date: 04/26/2021

Status: Died

LPS Act: hearings: This bill would allow a family member, friend, or acquaintance with personal knowledge of the person receiving treatment to make a request to testify in the judicial review proceedings under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act.

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