Bill Text: CA SB1400 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Long-term health care facilities: citations and

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-11 - To Com. on RLS. [SB1400 Detail]

Download: California-2009-SB1400-Introduced.html

---

BILL NUMBER: SB 1400	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Negrete McLeod

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2010

   An act relating to health facilities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1400, as introduced, Negrete McLeod. Long-term health care
facilities: citations and penalties review.
   Existing law specifies the procedures for a licensee of a
long-term health care facility, which includes a skilled nursing
facility and intermediate care facility, to contest a citation or the
proposed assessment of a civil penalty by the State Department of
Public Health, which includes the option to adjudicate the validity
of the citation in the superior court in the county in which the
facility is located.
   This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would assign responsibility for federal informal
dispute resolutions and state citation review conferences to an
independent 3rd party outside of the State Department of Public
Health, as specified.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature hereby decales all of the following:
   (a) Nursing facilities in the state are required to comply with a
myriad of very specific state and federal laws and regulations as a
condition of licensure and participation in the Medicare and Medicaid
programs.
   (b) Nursing facilities are subject to multiple levels of oversight
and enforcement, including regular surveys and complaint
investigations conducted by the State Department of Public Health
(hereafter, the department).
   (c) If the department detects a violation of an applicable state
or federal requirement during a survey or investigation, it may issue
a federal deficiency or state citation or both.
   (d) If a nursing facility administratively contests the accuracy
of a deficiency or citation issued by the department, it is currently
required to use a review process managed by that same department.
   (e) Requiring the department to review its own findings has
resulted in an inherent conflict of interest, created lengthy delays
in the issuance of final decisions, and diverted significant
resources away from the department's primary oversight activities.
   (f) Other states have successfully addressed similar issues by
assigning responsibility for administrative reviews of this nature to
another state agency or the state's Medicare Quality Improvement
Organization.
  SEC. 2.  It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
that would provide a more efficient and effective process for
reviewing contested deficiencies or citations against a long-term
health care facility, as defined in Section 1418 of the Health and
Safety Code, by assigning responsibility for federal informal dispute
resolutions and state citation review conferences to an independent
third party outside of the State Department of Public Health.