Bill Text: CA AB847 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Mental health: community-based services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-04-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 6, Statutes of 2016. [AB847 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB847-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 847 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 6
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 11, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR APRIL 11, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE MARCH 10, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 10, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Mullin and Ridley-Thomas
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to add Section 14021.2 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to mental health, making an appropriation therefor,
and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 847, Mullin. Mental health: community-based services.
Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act, an initiative
measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2,
2004, statewide general election, establishes the continuously
appropriated Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county
mental health programs. The act provides that it may be amended by
the Legislature by a 2/3 vote of each house as long as the amendment
is consistent with and furthers the intent of the act, and that the
Legislature may clarify procedures and terms of the act by majority
vote.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and
under which qualified low-income persons receive health care
benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by
federal Medicaid provisions. Existing law provides for a schedule of
benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for specified
services, including various mental health services. Existing federal
law, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, requires the
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to, among other
things, no later than September 1, 2017, select from among those
states awarded a planning grant, the states that may participate in a
time-limited demonstration program that is designed to improve
access to community mental health and substance use treatment
services provided by certified community behavioral health clinics.
This bill would require the department to develop a proposal for
the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to be
selected as a participating state in the time-limited demonstration
program described above to receive enhanced federal matching funds
for mental health services provided by certified community behavioral
health clinics to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The bill would appropriate
$1,000,000 from the Mental Health Services Act Fund to the State
Department of Health Care Services to develop that proposal. The bill
would make findings and declarations of the Legislature, including
that the changes the bill would make are consistent with and further
the intent of the act.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) In 2014 Congress enacted the federal Protecting Access to
Medicare Act of 2014.
(b) Under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act, eight states will
be selected to have their federal share of costs increased to 65
percent for two years for outpatient behavioral health care for
individuals with severe mental illnesses or serious emotional
disturbances.
(c) In October 2015, the United States Secretary of Health and
Human Services awarded California a planning grant pursuant to
Section 223 of the federal Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014
which partially supported California in, among other things,
developing its proposal to participate in the two-year demonstration
program.
(d) The Mental Health Services Act was approved by voters in 2004
for the primary purpose of addressing unmet mental health needs.
(e) It is an appropriate use of Mental Health Services Act funds
to support California's application to participate in this
demonstration program, including by using these funds to prepare
actuarial rates and provide technical assistance to counties seeking
to become certified community behavioral health centers.
(f) This act is consistent with and furthers the intent of the
Mental Health Services Act within the meaning of Section 18 of the
Mental Health Services Act.
SEC. 2. Section 14021.2 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
14021.2. (a) The department shall develop a proposal for the
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services for selection as
a participating state in the time-limited demonstration program
pursuant to Section 223 of the federal Protecting Access to Medicare
Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-93) in order to improve mental health
services furnished by certified community behavioral health clinics
to Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
(b) The department shall use the funds appropriated in the act
that added this section to pay any costs that will support the
development of a competitive proposal, including, but not limited to,
establishing actuarially sound rates and providing technical
assistance to counties.
SEC. 3. The sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) is hereby
appropriated from the Mental Health Services Fund to the State
Department of Health Care Services for the purpose of developing the
proposal described in Section 14021.2 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to provide necessary funding to the State Department of
Health Care Services for the development of a proposal to participate
in the federal Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014
demonstration program before the deadline to apply for participation
in the demonstration program, it is necessary that this bill go into
immediate effect.
