AB 1670 - AB 1676 (Nation/Richman)
The Richman-Nation Healthcare Reform Proposal
This package of seven bills proposed jointly by Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-San Rafael) and Assemblyman Keith Richman, MD (R-Granada Hills) in 2005 together would address a variety of healthcare issues in California including:
establishing an individual mandate for maintaining health insurance (AB 1670), implementing a streamlined system for outreach and enrollment into public coverage programs (AB 1671), requiring the implementation of electronic medical records (AB 1672), revising seismic retrofit requirements for hospitals in the state (AB 1673), establishing a Center for Quality Medicine (AB 1674),
limiting the inclusion of non-generic drugs on the Medi-Cal formulary (AB 1675), and providing for terminal illness education and establishing a registry for advanced health care directives (AB 1676) .
SB 2 – Health Insurance Act of 2003
SB 2 (Burton) requires businesses with 50 or more employees to offer health insurance or pay into a state fund. It limits employee premium contributions to 20% and requires employers with 200 or more employees to provide health coverage to workers and their dependents by 2006 to avoid paying into the fund. Businesses that employ 50 to 199 workers have to offer health insurance to
employees by 2007. Employers with fewer than 20 workers are exempt from the law, and those with 20 to 49 workers will be exempt from the law unless the state provides tax credits to offset the cost of health benefits.
Proposition 72 – a referendum challenging SB 2 – was placed on the November 2, 2004 California Statewide ballot. By a vote of 50.1% to 49.1%, voters rejected Proposition 72, thus repealing the SB 2 legislation.
Full Text of Bill (pdf)
Chaptered bill text for Senate Bill 2.
AB 495
AB 495 (Diaz) enables county-operated health plans to provide the
state match to draw federal Title XXI (State Children’s Health
Insurance Program) funds for local health insurance programs covering
children between 250 percent and 300 percent of the federal poverty
level (FPL) when these federal funds are not needed for the statewide
Healthy Families Program. A related bill, AB 1130 (Diaz) (see below),
provides necessary technical amendments – including an appropriation
– to permit fiscal year 2002-2003 implementation of AB 495.
See the AB
495 Update for more information on AB 495 and its implementation.
Full
Text of Bill (pdf)
Chaptered bill text for Assembly Bill 495.
AB 1130
AB 1130 (Diaz) earmarks funds for the County Health Initiative Matching
Fund in fiscal year 2002-2003 to allow counties and local groups
to match local funds spent in that year with unspent Healthy Families
funds.
Full
Text of Bill (pdf)
Chaptered bill text for Assembly Bill 1130.
AB 1524
AB 1524 (Richman) authorizes counties and local groups to cover
parents with annual family incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty
level with funds to match unused federal Healthy Families money.
Full
Text of Bill (pdf)
Chaptered bill text for Assembly Bill 1524.
Healthy Families Parental Expansion
Healthy Families (California’s State Children’s Health
Insurance Program) provides health coverage to low-income children
in families that earn too much to be eligible for Medi-Cal (up to
250% FPL). In January 2002, the federal government approved California’s
waiver request to expand Healthy Families Program coverage to parents
with incomes up to 200% FPL. Since that time, however, the state
has deferred implementation of the parental expansion because of
the state budget crisis.
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