Bill Text: CA AB2653 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Communicable disease: prevention and control.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-15 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB2653 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2653-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 21, 2024 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2653
| Introduced by Assembly Member Lackey |
February 14, 2024 |
An act to amend Section 120100 of add Section 120156 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to communicable disease.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2653, as amended, Lackey.
Communicable disease: prevention and control.
Existing law, the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Act, imposes various functions and duties on the State Department of Public Health and local health officers with respect to the prevention and control of communicable diseases. Under the act, a health officer includes county, city, and district health officers, and city and district health boards, but not advisory health boards.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to this provision.
This bill would require the department to aggregate
data related to overall vaccine coverage rates in skilled nursing facilities serving veterans and seniors and the preparedness of those facilities to respond to viral illnesses, as defined, and related post-viral illnesses. The bill would require the department to use existing data, reports, and studies in meeting these data aggregation requirements. The bill would require the department to submit a report to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Health that outlines the preparedness of skilled nursing facilities that serve veterans and seniors to respond to viral illnesses and related post-viral illnesses, the financial impact of these conditions on individuals and the state, and health data trends of demographic groups and geographic areas of the state experiencing the highest levels of viral illness. The bill would require the department to disseminate best practices related to increasing coverage rates of recommended vaccines at skilled nursing facilities that serve veterans and seniors, improving the
preparedness of those facilities to prevent and treat viral illnesses, and implementing specified treatment protocols. The bill would require the department identify and pursue any available federal funding to incentivize and reward skilled nursing facilities for the improvement of overall coverage rates of recommended vaccines for the prevention and treatment of viral illnesses.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 120156 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:120156.
(a) Using data already acquired by the State Department of Public Health and existing studies and reports, the department shall aggregate data on both the following:(1) The overall vaccine coverage rates in skilled nursing facilities that serve veterans and seniors.
(2) Preparedness of skilled nursing facilities that serve veterans and seniors to respond to viral illnesses and related post-viral illnesses.
(b) The department shall submit a report to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Health that contains all of the following information in a manner that complies with Section 9795 of the Government Code:
(1) The preparedness of the state’s network of skilled nursing facilities that serve veterans and seniors to respond to viral illnesses and related post-viral illnesses.
(2) The financial impact on individuals affected by viral illnesses and the effects of post-viral illnesses, and any costs borne by the state in treating those individuals.
(3) Health data trends on demographic groups or geographic areas of the state experiencing the highest levels of viral illness.
(c) The department shall disseminate, through the most cost-effective means available, such as all facilities letters, suggested best practices for both of the following:
(1) Increasing overall coverage rates of recommended
vaccines at skilled nursing facilities that serve veterans and seniors and improving the preparedness of those facilities to prevent and treat viral illnesses.
(2) Implementing treatment protocols for the mental, physical, and behavioral effects of viral illnesses that are particularly prevalent among veterans and seniors.
(d) The department shall identify and pursue any available federal funding to incentivize and reward skilled nursing facilities for the improvement of overall coverage rates of recommended vaccines for the prevention and treatment of viral illnesses.
(e) For purposes of this section, “viral illnesses” includes, but is not limited to, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
“Health officer,” as used in the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Act as set forth in Section 27, includes county, city, and district health officers, and city and district health boards, but does not include advisory health boards.
