Bill Text: CA AB1249 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Health care service plans: regulations: exemptions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2020-01-21 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB1249 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB1249-Enrolled.html
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Enrolled
September 17, 2019 |
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Passed
IN
Senate
September 10, 2019 |
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Passed
IN
Assembly
September 11, 2019 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
August 30, 2019 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
July 11, 2019 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
June 28, 2019 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
May 01, 2019 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
March 18, 2019 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1249
| Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein |
February 21, 2019 |
An act to add and repeal Section 1343.3 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to health care service plans.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1249, Maienschein.
Health care service plans: regulations: exemptions.
Existing federal law defines a voluntary employees’ beneficiary association as an organization composed of a voluntary association of employees that provides for the payment of life, sick, accident, or similar benefits to members or their dependents, or designated beneficiaries. Existing federal law defines a welfare plan as any plan, fund, or program established or maintained by an employer or employee organization, or both, for the purpose of providing participants or their beneficiaries specified benefits, such as medical, surgical, or hospital care or benefits. Existing law further defines a multiemployer plan as a plan to which more than one employer is required to contribute, that is maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements between one or more employee organizations and more than one employer, and that meets other specified requirements.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes the willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law exempts specified persons or plans from the requirements of the act and authorizes the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care to exempt additional specified persons or plans if the director finds, among other things, that the exemption is in the public interest. Under existing law, upon the request of the Director of Health Care Services, the director must exempt a county-operated pilot program contracting with the State Department of Health Care Services, and may exempt a noncounty-operated pilot program, subject to any conditions the Director of Health Care Services deems appropriate. Existing law also exempts a health care service plan operated by a city, county, city and county, public entity, political
subdivision, or public joint labor management trust that satisfies certain criteria, including that the plan requires providers to be reimbursed solely on a fee-for-service basis.
This bill would authorize the director, no later than May 1, 2020, to authorize 2 pilot programs, one in northern California and one in southern California, under which providers approved by the department may undertake risk-bearing arrangements with a voluntary employees’ beneficiary association with enrollment of more than 100,000 lives, notwithstanding the fee-for-service requirement described above, or a trust fund that is a welfare plan and a multiemployer plan with enrollment of more than 25,000 lives, if certain criteria are met, including that each risk-bearing provider is registered with the department as a risk-based organization and holds or will obtain a limited or restricted license, as applicable. The bill would require the association or trust fund and each health care
provider participating in each pilot program to report to the department information regarding cost savings and clinical patient outcomes compared to a fee-for-service payment model, and would require the department to report those findings to the Legislature by June 1, 2026. The bill would require pilot program participants to reimburse the department for reasonable regulatory costs of up to $500,000. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2029.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 1343.3 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:1343.3.
(a) The director, no later than May 1, 2020, may authorize one pilot program in northern California, and one pilot program in southern California, whereby providers approved by the department may undertake risk-bearing arrangements with a voluntary employees’ beneficiary association, as defined in Section 501(c)(9) of Title 26 of the United States Code or in Section 1349.2, notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 1349.2, with enrollment of greater than 100,000 lives, or a trust fund that is a welfare plan, as defined in Section 1002(1) of Title 29 of the United States Code, and a multiemployer plan, as defined in Section 1002(37) of Title 29 of the United States Code, with enrollment of greater than 25,000 lives, for the period of January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2025, inclusive, if all of the following criteria are met:(1) The purpose of the pilot program is to demonstrate the control of costs for health care services and the improvement of health outcomes and quality of service when compared against a sole fee-for-service provider reimbursement model.
(2) The voluntary employees’ beneficiary association or trust fund has entered into a contract with one or more health care providers under which each provider agrees to accept risk-based or global risk payment from the voluntary employees’ beneficiary association or trust fund.
(3) Each risk-bearing provider is registered as a risk-bearing organization pursuant to Section 1375.4 and applicable department regulations if the provider accepts professional capitation.
(4) Each global
risk-bearing provider holds or will obtain in conjunction with the pilot program application a limited or restricted license pursuant to Section 1349 or 1351 or Section 1300.49 of Title 28 of the California Code of Regulations.
(5) Each risk-bearing provider continues to comply with applicable financial solvency standards and audit requirements under this chapter, including, but not limited to, financial reporting on a quarterly basis, during the term of the pilot program.
(6) The contract between the voluntary employees’ beneficiary association or trust fund and each health care provider includes all of the following:
(A) Provisions dividing financial responsibility between the parties and defining which party is financially responsible for services rendered, including arrangements for member care should a global or
risk-bearing provider become insolvent.
(B) A delegation agreement.
(C) Provisions regarding the process by which each party will determine the appropriateness of all of the following:
(i) Assurances that the risk-based organization, limited licensee, or restricted licensee, as applicable, has the organizational and administrative capacity to provide services to covered employees, and that medical decisions are rendered by qualified medical providers, unhindered by fiscal and administrative mapplication submitted to the department. The application shall include a copy of each contract between the voluntary employees’ beneficiary association or trust fund and a participating health care provider.
(9) (A) The voluntary employees’ beneficiary association or trust fund and each health care provider participating in the pilot program agree to collect and report to the department, in each year of the pilot program, in a manner and frequency determined by the
department, information regarding the comparative cost savings when compared to fee-for-service payment, performance measurements for clinical patient outcomes, and any other information required by the department.
(B) The department may authorize a public or private agency to receive the information specified in this paragraph and monitor the pilot project under the data standard currently used by the Integrated Healthcare Association’s “Align. Measure. Perform.” (AMP) program and the California Regional Health Care Cost & Quality Atlas.
(b) This section does not exempt a health care provider that contracts with a voluntary employees’ beneficiary association or trust fund as part of a pilot program authorized by subdivision (a) from the financial solvency requirements of Section 1375.4 and related department regulations, Section 1349 or 1351, or Section 1300.49 of Title 28 of
the California Code of Regulations, as applicable, or any other provision of this chapter required by the department as part of the pilot program.
(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), this section does not exempt a voluntary employees’ beneficiary association participating in a pilot program authorized by subdivision (a) from Section 1349.2.
(d) The global and risk-bearing providers participating in a pilot program authorized by subdivision (a) shall be approved by the department.
(e) The department, after the termination of both pilot programs, and before June 1, 2026, shall submit a report to the Legislature regarding the costs and clinical patient outcomes of the pilot programs compared to fee-for-service payment models. This report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.
(f) The pilot participants shall reimburse the department for reasonable regulatory costs of up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) for all of the following:
(1) Commissioning the report described in subdivision (e).
(2) Developing an application process for the pilot programs described in this section.
(3) Monitoring compliance with this section.
(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed.
