Bill Text: CA SB145 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Robert F. Kennedy Farm Workers Medical Plan.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-10-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 712, Statutes of 2015. [SB145 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SB145-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 145	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  712
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 9, 2015
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 9, 2015
	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 31, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 5, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 23, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Pan

                        JANUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add and repeal Section 100235 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to health care.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 145, Pan. Robert F. Kennedy Farm Workers Medical Plan.
    Existing state law requires, for the 2015-16 fiscal year, the
State Department of Health Care Services to provide a grant to a
health benefit plan that is funded by contributions from agricultural
employers, as specified, upon an appropriation of funds for this
purpose. The Robert F. Kennedy Farm Workers Medical Plan is a
nonprofit voluntary employees beneficiary association, organized
under federal law, that provides payments for health care and other
benefits to its members.
   This bill would require, until January 1, 2021, the department to
annually reimburse the Robert F. Kennedy Farm Workers Medical Plan up
to $3,000,000 per year for claim payments that exceed $70,000 made
by the plan on behalf of an eligible employee or dependent for a
single episode of care on or after September 1, 2016. The bill would
require the department to make the reimbursement payment within 60
days after it receives specified claims data from the plan.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The Robert F. Kennedy Farm Workers Medical Plan is a joint
labor-management health plan for farmworkers organized under Section
302(c)(5) of the federal Labor Management Relations Act of 1947.
   (b) This plan has been in existence for more than 45 years and has
provided vital health services to farmworkers and their families,
enabling them to lead healthier lives, make better use of their
available income, and achieve self-sufficiency.
   (c) The plan has focused on primary and preventive care and has
significantly alleviated the burden on publicly funded health
resources in the plan's coverage areas.
   (d) The plan has saved the state significant sums of money that
would have otherwise been expended to provide health care.
   (e) The Legislature has determined that the plan is an efficient
and cost-effective means to deliver health care services to
farmworkers and their families within the plan's coverage areas.
Thus, it is in the state's interest to maintain the range of health
care services provided by the plan without threatening the plan's
financial viability.
  SEC. 2.  Section 100235 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
   100235.  (a) The department shall annually reimburse the Robert F.
Kennedy Farm Workers Medical Plan for claim payments that exceed
seventy thousand dollars ($70,000) made by the plan on behalf of an
eligible employee or dependent for a single episode of care on or
after September 1, 2016. This reimbursement shall not exceed three
million dollars ($3,000,000) per year.
   (b) To seek reimbursement, commencing after September 1, 2017, and
annually thereafter, the plan shall submit to the department
completed data, verified by an independent certified public
accountant, for claims paid by the plan for services during the
preceding year from September 1 to August 31, inclusive.
   (c) (1) If the department receives claims data from the plan
pursuant to subdivision (b), the department shall analyze that data
to determine the aggregate amount of claims that exceed seventy
thousand dollars ($70,000) paid by the plan on behalf of an eligible
employee or dependent for any single episode of care.
   (2) No later than 60 days after the department receives claims
data submitted by the plan, the department shall reimburse the plan
the amount determined pursuant to paragraph (1), up to the amount of
three million dollars ($3,000,000) per year.
   (d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2021, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends that
date.