BILL NUMBER: AB 861	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 12, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 30, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Maienschein

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2015

   An act to add Section 14021.2 to, the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to mental health  services, and declaring the
urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.   services.




	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 861, as amended, Maienschein. Mental health: community-based
services.
   Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and
under which qualified low-income persons receive health care
benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by
federal Medicaid provisions. Existing law provides for a schedule of
benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for specified
services, including various mental health services. Existing federal
law, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, requires the
 federal   United States  Secretary of
Health and Human Services to, among other things, award, no later
than January 1, 2016, planning grants to states for the purpose of
developing proposals to participate in time-limited demonstration
programs to improve mental health services provided by certified
community behavioral health clinics to Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
   This bill would require the department to apply  for that
planning grant.   to the United States Secretary of
Health and Human Services to be selected as a participating state in
the time-limited demonstration program to receive enhanced federal
matching funds for mental health services provided by certified
community behavioral health clinics if the department applies for,
and is awarded, a planning grant to develop its   proposal
to participate in the demonstration program.  The bill would
require the department to work with counties and other stakeholders
in developing its proposal. The bill would also require the proposal
to include plans for counties to redirect a portion of the funds
currently used to match federal funds to providing increased housing
opportunities for individuals with severe mental illnesses, as
specified. 
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute. 
   Vote:  2/3   majority  . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (a) In 2014 Congress enacted the Protecting Access to Medicare Act
of 2014.
   (b) Under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act, eight states will
be selected to have their federal share of costs increased to 90
percent for two years for outpatient behavioral health care for
individuals with severe mental illnesses or serious emotional
disturbances.
   (c) If successful, this federal opportunity would enable
California to serve the tens of thousands of individuals with those
conditions that it now lacks the funding to serve.
   (d) A major challenge in serving that population is that many are
homeless and in need of housing assistance. Federal funding cannot
pay for that housing assistance.
   (e) This federal funding would free up nearly $2 billion in county
funds now being used to match federal funds. The money that is
currently being used to match federal funds will now be available to
be used to meet the housing needs of those individuals who are not
currently receiving the behavioral health care that they need.
  SEC. 2.  Section 14021.2 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   14021.2.  (a)  The   If the  department
 shall apply   applies  to the 
federal  United States  Secretary of Health and
Human Services  for   for, and is awarded, 
the planning grant awarded pursuant to Section 223 of the federal
Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 for the purpose of
developing proposals to participate in time-limited demonstration
programs to improve mental health services furnished by certified
community behavioral health clinics to Medi-Cal 
beneficiaries. The   beneficiaries, the  department
shall  also  submit an application for the
subsequent competitive grant competition to be selected as a
participating state in the demonstration program.
   (b) In planning to develop its proposal for the competitive grant,
the department shall work with counties and other stakeholders to
identify the unmet need for the covered services and to estimate the
number of individuals who will need housing assistance.
   (c) The competitive grant proposal shall include plans for
counties to redirect a portion of the funds that are currently used
to match federal funds but will not be needed for that purpose during
the grant period to provide increased housing opportunities for
individuals with severe mental illnesses. 
  SEC. 3.    This act is an urgency statute
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health,
or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and
shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity
are:
   The federal Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 requires the
federal Secretary of Health and Human Services to award planning
grants no later than January 1, 2016. In order to require the State
Department of Health Care Services to apply for a planning grant
before the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services awards the
planning grants to states, it is necessary that this bill go into
immediate effect.