Updated 9/18/23
AB 48 (Aguiar-Curry) – Nursing Home Facility Resident
Informed Consent. This bill is an amended
re-introduction of AB 1809 (Aguiar-Curry) which was vetoed in 2022. As
originally introduced, AB 1809 would have imposed a new and onerous informed
consent process on facilities administering psychotherapeutic medications to
residents and imposed new civil liability penalties. After extensive
negotiations with the author and the sponsor, AB 1809 was amended to remove the
civil liability provisions, limit the categories of medication and establish a
process for the California Association for Long Term Care Medicine (CALTCM) to
develop a model consent form and provide education and training prior to
implementation of the bill. CAHF had a neutral position on AB 1809 and
has not taken a position on AB 48. AB 979 has passed out of the Legislature and is awaiting Governor’s Action.
AB 486 (Kalra) - Long-term health facilities: citation
appeals. This bill would delete the civil action provisions for contesting
a class “AA” or “A” citation under these provisions, and would make those
citation classifications subject to the administrative proceedings applicable
for contesting a class “B” citation. CAHF has met with the author’s staff
and has taken an oppose unless amended position on the bill, with proposed
amendments to provide an option for binding arbitration in lieu of the facility
filing a civil case in superior court. The bill passed out of the
Assembly Health Committee and will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee. CAHF is continuing to develop proposed amendments to the bill. AB
486 is in the Senate and is now a 2-year bill and no action will be taken in
2023.
AB 488 (Nguyen) - Medi-Cal: skilled nursing facilities:
vision loss. This bill would require that
DHCS WQIP measures and milestones, used to calculate SNF incentive payments,
include program access, staff training, and capital improvement measures aimed
at addressing the needs of skilled nursing facility residents with vision
loss. This bill is sponsored by the California Council for the
Blind. CAHF’s concerns about this bill is that it would set a precedent for
introducing WQIP quality measures in statute instead of the recently developed
stakeholder process already being used by DHCS. AB 488 is in the Senate
and is now a 2-year bill and no action will be taken in 2023.
AB 979 (Alvarez) – Long-Term Care: Family Councils. This
bill would make several changes to requirements related to the responsibilities
of SNFs and RCFEs related to the formation of family councils, including
changes to the definition and scope of prohibited interference; require the
facility to respond in writing regarding any action or inaction within 14
calendar days; authorize facility staff to attend family council meetings only
at the invitation of the family council, and informing friends identified in
certain materials and to provide the name and contact information of the family
council representative prior to or within 5 business days after the resident’s
admission. This bill is sponsored by California Advocates for Nursing
Home Reform (CANHR). CAHF worked with the author’s office, policy committees,
CANHR and other stakeholders to develop amendments and is not taking a position
on this bill. AB 979 has passed out of the Legislature and is awaiting
Governor’s Action.
AB 1309 (Reyes) - Long-term health care facilities:
admission contracts. This bill originally required
the facility-initiated discharge notice to the resident to include specific
facts to permit determination of the date, place, witnesses, and circumstances
concerning the reason for the transfer or discharge. CAHF raised concerns about
the additional burden on facilities and was negotiated amendments which would
require the facility to provide, within 48 hours of the written notice above, a
copy of the resident’s discharge needs and discharge plan. The bill would
require the facility to provide a copy of the resident’s discharge summary
prior to the proposed transfer or discharge date. The bill would require the
facility to provide these documents at no cost to the resident. If the resident
requests a transfer or discharge appeal hearing, the bill would require both
the resident and the facility to provide all documents and records to be used
by the party at the hearing, as specified. This bill is sponsored by California
Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR). CAHF worked with the author’s
office, policy committees and CANHR to develop the amendments to the bill and
is not taking a position on this bill. AB 1309 has passed out of the
Legislature and is awaiting Governor’s Action.
AB 1331 (Wood) - California Health and Human Services
Data Exchange Requirements. This bill would require the
Center for Data Insights and Innovation to take over establishment,
implementation, and all the functions related to the California Health and
Human Services Data Exchange Framework on or before January 1, 2024, subject to
an appropriation in the annual Budget Act. The bill would require the center to
establish the CalHHS Data Exchange Board, with specified membership, to develop
recommendations and to review, modify, and approve any modifications to the
Data Exchange Framework data sharing agreement, among other things. The bill
would require the center to submit an annual report to the Legislature that
includes required signatory compliance with the data sharing agreement,
assessment of consumer experiences with health information exchange, and
evaluation of technical assistance and other grant programs. The bill would
require the center, by July 1, 2024, to establish a process to designate
qualified health information organizations according to specified criteria. AB
1331 did not pass out of Senate Appropriations and no further action will be taken on the bill this year.
AB 1359 (Schiavo) – Paid sick days: health care
employees. This bill would establish new procedures governing the
accrual and use of health care worker sick leave for employees of a covered
health care facility, as those terms are defined. The bill would permit accrued
health care worker sick leave to carry over to the following year of employment
for those employees, subject to certain conditions, and would prohibit a
covered health care facility from limiting an employee’s use of health care
worker sick leave. The bill would exempt those employees from certain existing
limits on the use of accrued paid sick days. The bill would authorize an
employee of a covered health care facility to bring a civil action against an
employer that violates this provision and would entitle the employee to collect
specified legal and equitable relief to remedy a violation. AB 1359 was moved to the inactive file in the Senate.
AB 1417 (Wood) Elder and Dependent adult abuse: mandated
reporting. This bill would delete and reorganize elder abuse reporting
provisions. Under the bill, if the abuse that occurred in a long-term facility
was allegedly caused by another resident of the facility with dementia
diagnosed by a licensed physician and there was no serious bodily injury, the
reporter would be required to submit a written report within 24 hours to the
long-term care ombudsman, the local law enforcement agency, and the
corresponding state agency. Under the bill, in all other instances, immediately
or as soon as practically possible, but no longer than 2 hours, the reporter
would be required to submit a verbal report to the local law enforcement
agency, and to submit a written report within 24 hours to the aforementioned
recipients. The original bill included a proposed requirement that
facilities would need to report incidents which involved a resident who does
not have dementia within 1 hour. CAHF and other LTC stakeholders worked
with the author and sponsor to change the time limit to 2 hours consistent with
current state and federal requirements. With these amendments, CAHF is
not taking a position on this bill. AB 1417 has passed out of the Legislature and is awaiting Governor’s Action.
AB 1537 (Wood) - Skilled nursing facilities: direct care
spending requirement. This bill would require a SNF
to expend at least 85% of its non-federal health-related revenue on direct
patient care, including rent/lease costs and professional liability
insurance. This is a re-introduction of AB 2079 which was passed out of
the Legislature in 2022 and vetoed by the Governor. CAHF had no position
on AB 2079 due to the addition of requested amendments. CAHF will be
assessing its position on AB 1537 pending the release of additional amendments
from the author. AB 1537 has been moved to the inactive file and no additional
action will be taken on this bill in 2023.
SB 302 (Stern) - Compassionate Access to Medical Cannabis
Act or Ryan’s Law. The Compassionate Access
to Medical Cannabis Act which requires specified types of health care
facilities to allow a terminally ill patient’s use of medicinal cannabis within
the health care facility, subject to certain restrictions. This bill would
expand the definition of a patient to apply to a patient who is over 65 years
of age with a chronic disease. SB 302 has passed out of the Legislature and is awaiting Governor’s Action.
SB 525 (Durazo) - Minimum wage: health care workers. This
bill would require a health care worker minimum wage of $25 per hour for hours
worked in covered health care employment, as defined, subject to adjustment, as
prescribed. In 2022, CAHF proposed the “Drive to $25” initiative which
supported a $25 minimum wage for CNAs if the state provided the funding in
Medi-Cal. This bill is much more expansive and does not include a funding
mechanism. CAHF has taken an Oppose Unless Amended position, citing our
general support for increased wages for SNF workers but that those increases
must be funded by the state and that the bill needs to include mechanisms for
funding mandated minimum wage requirements for SNFs. SB 525 has passed out of the Legislature and is awaiting Governor’s Action.