Bill Text: CA SB1476 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Health professions: medically or dentally underserved population.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-08 - Referred to Com. on HEALTH. [SB1476 Detail]
Download: California-2017-SB1476-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION
| Senate Bill | No. 1476 |
| Introduced by Senator Hernandez |
February 16, 2018 |
An act to amend Sections 127928, 128552, and 128565 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to health professions.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1476, as introduced, Hernandez.
Health professions: medically or dentally underserved population.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which basic health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law created the Healthy Families Program for the provision of health, vision, and dental benefits to eligible children pursuant to the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program. Existing law provides for the transition of children from the Healthy Families Program to the Medi-Cal program.
Existing law establishes the California Medical and Dental Student Loan Repayment Program of 2002, the California Physician Corps Program, and the Steven M. Thompson Medical School Scholarship Program. Existing law conditions eligibility of certain health
professionals in those programs on, among other things, provision of services to a medically underserved population, which is defined to include the Medi-Cal, Healthy Families Program, and uninsured populations.
This bill would remove obsolete references to the Healthy Families Program in the definition of “medically underserved population” within those provisions. The bill would make related changes to the definition of “dentally underserved population” for purposes of the California Medical and Dental Student Loan Repayment Program of 2002.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 127928 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:127928.
For purposes of this part, the following terms have the following meanings:(a) “Program” means the California Medical and Dental Student Loan Repayment Program of 2002.
(b) (1) “Medically underserved area” means an area as defined in Part 5 of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations or an area of the state where unmet priority needs for physicians exists as determined by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission pursuant to Section 128225 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) “Dentally underserved area” means a geographic area eligible to be designated as having a
shortage of dental professionals pursuant to Part I of Appendix B to Part 5 of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations or an area of the state where unmet priority needs for dentists exist as determined by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission pursuant to Section 128224 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) (1) “Medically underserved population” means the Medi-Cal, Healthy Families Medi-Cal and uninsured population.
(2) “Dentally underserved population” means persons without dental insurance and persons eligible for the Denti-Cal and Healthy Families Programs
program who are population groups described as having a shortage of dental care professionals in Part I of Appendix B to Part 5 of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(d) “Medi-Cal threshold languages” means primary languages spoken by limited-English-proficient (LEP) population groups meeting a numeric threshold of 3,000 eligible LEP Medi-Cal beneficiaries residing in a county, 1,000 Medi-Cal eligible LEP beneficiaries residing in a single ZIP Code, or 1,500 LEP Medi-Cal beneficiaries residing in two contiguous ZIP Codes.
(e) “Office” means the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
SEC. 2.
Section 128552 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:128552.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply:(a) “Account” means the Medically Underserved Account for Physicians established within the Health Professions Education Fund pursuant to this article.
(b) “Foundation” means the Health Professions Education Foundation.
(c) “Fund” means the Health Professions Education Fund.
(d) “Medi-Cal threshold languages” means primary languages spoken by limited-English-proficient (LEP) population groups meeting a numeric threshold of 3,000, eligible LEP Medi-Cal beneficiaries residing in a county, 1,000 Medi-Cal eligible LEP beneficiaries
residing in a single ZIP Code, or 1,500 LEP Medi-Cal beneficiaries residing in two contiguous ZIP Codes.
(e) “Medically underserved area” means an area defined as a health professional shortage area in Part 5 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations or an area of the state where unmet priority needs for physicians exist as determined by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission pursuant to Section 128225.
(f) “Medically underserved population” means the Medi-Cal program, Healthy Families Program, program and uninsured populations.
(g) “Office” means the Office of Statewide Health
Planning and Development (OSHPD).
(h) “Physician Volunteer Program” means the Physician Volunteer Registry Program established by the Medical Board of California.
(i) “Practice setting,” for the purposes of this article only, means either of the following:
(1) A community clinic as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1204 and subdivision (c) of Section 1206, a clinic owned or operated by a public hospital and health system, or a clinic owned and operated by a hospital that maintains the primary contract with a county government to fulfill the county’s role pursuant to Section 17000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, which is located in a medically underserved area and at least 50 percent of whose patients are from a medically underserved population.
(2) A physician owned and operated medical practice setting that provides primary care located in a medically underserved area and has a minimum of 50 percent of patients who are uninsured, Medi-Cal beneficiaries, or beneficiaries of another publicly funded program that serves patients who earn less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level.
(j) “Primary specialty” means family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, or obstetrics/gynecology.
(k) “Program” means the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program.
(l) “Selection committee” means a minimum three-member committee of the board, that includes a member that was appointed by the Medical Board of California.
SEC. 3.
Section 128565 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:128565.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply:(a) “Account” means the Steven M. Thompson Medical School Scholarship Account established within the Health Professions Education Fund pursuant to this article.
(b) “Foundation” means the Health Professions Education Foundation.
(c) “Medi-Cal threshold languages” means primary languages spoken by limited-English-proficient (LEP) population groups meeting a numeric threshold of 3,000 LEP individuals eligible for Medi-Cal residing in a county, 1,000 LEP individuals eligible for Medi-Cal residing in a single ZIP Code, or 1,500 LEP individuals eligible for Medi-Cal residing in two contiguous ZIP
Codes.
(d) “Medically underserved area” means an area defined as a health professional shortage area in Part 5 (commencing with Sec. 5.1) of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations or an area of the state where unmet priority needs for physicians exist as determined by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission pursuant to Section 128225.
(e) “Medically underserved population” means the persons served by the Medi-Cal program, the Healthy Families Program, program and uninsured populations.
(f) “Office” means the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD).
(g) “Practice setting” means either of the following:
(1) A community clinic as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1204 and subdivision (c) of Section 1206, a clinic owned or operated by a public hospital and health system, or a clinic owned and operated by a hospital that maintains the primary contract with a county government to fulfill the county’s role pursuant to Section 17000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, each of which is located in a medically underserved area and at least 50 percent of whose patients are from a medically underserved population.
(2) A medical practice located in a medically underserved area and at least 50 percent of whose patients are from a medically underserved population.
(h) “Primary specialty” means family practice,
internal medicine, pediatrics, or obstetrics/gynecology.
(i) “Program” means the Steven M. Thompson Medical School Scholarship Program.
(j) “Selection committee” means the advisory committee of not more than seven members established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 128551.
(k) “Super-medically underserved area” means an area defined as medically underserved pursuant to subdivision (d) that also meets a heightened criteria of physician shortage as determined by the foundation.
