Bill Text: CA AB1275 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Health information.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2023-09-14 - Re-referred to Com. on RLS. [AB1275 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB1275-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  September 13, 2023

Amended  IN  Senate  June 26, 2023

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 25, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1275

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Introduced by Assembly Member Arambula Weber

February 16, 2023

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An act to amend Section 54953 of the Government Code, relating to community colleges. An act to add Section 130209.5 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1275, as amended, Arambula Weber. Community colleges: student-run community college organizations: open meetings: teleconferences. Health information.

Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency, which includes departments charged with the administration of health, social, and other human services. Existing law establishes the Center for Data Insights and Innovation within the California Health and Human Services Agency to ensure the enforcement of state law mandating the confidentiality of medical information. Existing law also establishes the State Department of Health Care Services and requires the department, among other things, to administer the Medi-Cal program.

This bill would require the department, in collaboration with the agency, to collect appropriate data and identify indicators for tracking telehealth outcomes associated with impacting individual patient outcomes and overall population health. The bill would require the department to use the data collected to measure health outcomes of populations, as specified.

The bill would make a related intent statement.

The Ralph M. Brown Act requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a legislative body of a local agency be open and public and that all persons be permitted to attend and participate. The act authorizes the legislative body of a local agency to use teleconferencing for its meetings subject to certain requirements, including, among others, public notice of, and access to, each teleconference location, posting of a meeting agenda at each of the teleconference locations, and the participation of least a quorum of the members of the legislative body from locations within the boundaries of the territory over which the local agency exercises jurisdiction, as provided. Existing law, until January 1, 2026, exempts a local agency from these requirements if, among other things, at least a quorum of its members participate from a singular physical location that is clearly identifiable on the agenda, open to the public, and situated within the boundaries of the territory over which the local agency exercises jurisdiction, and an agenda is posted at the identified location, as provided. Under this exemption, existing law authorizes a member of a legislative body to participate remotely under specified circumstances, including participating remotely for just cause or due to emergency circumstances. Existing law specifies that these provisions do not serve as a means for any member of a legislative body to participate in meetings of the legislative body solely by teleconference from a remote location for a period of more than 3 consecutive months or 20% of the regular meetings for the local agency within a calendar year, or more than 2 meetings if the legislative body regularly meets fewer than 10 times per calendar year.

Existing law requires the meetings of the statewide community college student organization that has been recognized by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to be open to the public and to comply with the Ralph M. Brown Act.

This bill would, until January 1, 2026, additionally authorize a member of the recognized statewide community college student organization and other student-run community college organizations required to comply with the Ralph M. Brown Act to participate remotely in those above-described teleconference meetings that are exempt from the requirements to (1) post agendas at all teleconferencing locations, (2) identify each teleconference location in the notice and agenda, (3) make each teleconference location accessible to the public, and (4) have at least a quorum of the members of the legislative body participate from locations within the boundaries of the territory over which the local agency exercises jurisdiction, as provided. The bill would authorize a member of a legislative body of those student organizations to participate in meetings of the legislative body solely by teleconference from a remote location for a period of more than 3 consecutive months or 20% of the regular meetings for the student organization within a calendar year, or more than 2 meetings if the legislative body regularly meets fewer than 10 times per calendar year.

The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 It is the intent of the Legislature to advance the use of telehealth and increase access to health care by establishing state policy that optimizes the use of telehealth to augment and enhance health and medical care for all California residents, especially those residents who are medically underserved, in order to improve individual patient outcomes and overall population health.

SEC. 2.

 Section 130209.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

130209.5.

 (a) The State Department of Health Care Services, in collaboration with the California Health and Human Services Agency, shall collect appropriate data and identify indicators for tracking telehealth outcomes associated with impacting individual patient outcomes and overall population health. The department shall collect all of the following data:

(1) Medi-Cal program data that tracks individual and overall population health outcomes.

(2) Medi-Cal program data on who has access to telehealth, the effectivenesss of telehealth, and access to special care.

(3) Medi-Cal program morbidity and mortality data, including environmental factors.

(b) The department shall use the data collected pursuant to subdivision (a) to measure the health outcomes of populations by using all of the following determinants:

(1) Medical care.

(2) Public health interventions.

(3) Social determinants, including income, employment, social support, and culture.

(4) Physical environment, including urban design, air quality, and access to clean water.

(5) Genetics.

(6) Individual behavior.