BILL NUMBER: AB 1176	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 21, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly  Member   Bocanegra
  Members   Bocanegra   and Bonta


                        FEBRUARY 22, 2013

    An act to amend Section 92655.1 of the Education Code,
relating to postsecondary education.   An act to add
Article 4 (commencing with Section 128310) to Chapter 4 of Part 3 of
Division 107 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to health care.




	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1176, as amended, Bocanegra.  University of California:
health professions education outreach.   Medical
residency training program grants.  
    Existing law, the Song-Brown Family Physician Training Act,
declares the intent of the Legislature to increase the number of
students and residents receiving quality education and training in
the specialty of family practice and as primary care physician's
assistants and primary care nurse practitioners. Existing law
establishes, for this purpose, a state medical contract program with
accredited medical schools, programs that train primary care
physician's assistants, programs that train primary care nurse
practitioners, registered nurses, hospitals, and other health care
delivery systems.  
   Existing law establishes the California Healthcare Workforce
Policy Commission and requires the commission to, among other things,
identify specific areas of the state that have unmet priority needs,
and review and make recommendations to the Director of the Office of
Statewide Health Planning and Development concerning the funding of
those programs that are submitted to the Health Professions
Development Program for participation in the state medical contract
program.  
   The bill would establish the Graduate Medical Education Fund in
the State Treasury to consist of annual assessments, on insurers or
health care services plans that provide prescribed health care
coverage, of $5 per covered life. The bill would require that moneys
in the fund be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to fund
grants to graduate medical residency training programs. The bill
would require the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development, in consultation with the California Healthcare Workforce
Policy Commission, to develop criteria for distribution of available
funds.  
   This bill would include a change in state statute that would
result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of
Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus
would require for passage the approval of 2/3 of the membership of
each house of the Legislature.  
   Existing law establishes the University of California,
administered by the Regents of the University of California, as one
of the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in the state and
provides the university with exclusive jurisdiction in public
postsecondary education over graduate instruction in the professions
of medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. Existing law
requests the regents to use existing resources to establish dental,
medical, and optometric health professions outreach and exposure
programs.  
   This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

   Vote:  majority   2/3  . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee:  no   yes  .
State-mandated local program: no.


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

   SECTION 1.    Article 4 (commencing with Section
128310) is added to Chapter 4 of Part 3 of Division 107 of the 
 Health and Safety Code   , to read:  

      Article 4.  Medical Residency Training Program Grants


   128310.  (a) The Graduate Medical Education Fund is hereby
established in the State Treasury.
   (b) Moneys in the fund shall, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, be used solely for the purpose of funding grants to
graduate medical education residency programs in California.
   (c) Notwithstanding Section 16305.7 of the Government Code, all
interest earned on the moneys that have been deposited into the fund
shall be retained in the fund and used for purposes consistent with
the fund.
   (d) The fund shall consist of all of the following:
   (1) All assessments received pursuant to Section 128311.
   (2) Any interest that accrues on amounts in the fund.
   (e) The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, in
consultation with the California Healthcare Workforce Policy
Commission, shall develop criteria for distribution of available
moneys in the fund. In developing the criteria, the office shall give
priority to programs that meet the following specifications:
   (1) Are located in medically underserved areas, as defined in
Section 128552.
   (2) Have a proven record of placing graduates in those medically
underserved areas.
   (3) Place an emphasis on training primary care providers.
   (4) Place an emphasis on training physician specialties that are
most needed in the community in which the program is located.
   (f) Moneys appropriated from the fund may also be used to fund
existing graduate medical education residency slots as well as new
graduate medical education residency slots.
   (g) Whenever applicable, the office shall utilize moneys
appropriated from the fund to provide a match for available federal
funds for graduate medical education.
   128311.  (a) Every health insurer or health care service plan that
provides health care coverage in this state shall pay an annual
graduate medical education assessment of five dollars ($5.00) for
each covered life to the California Healthcare Workforce Policy
Commission for deposit into the Graduate Medical Education Fund for
the purposes of this article.
   (b) This section shall not apply to dental-only, vision-only, or
Medicare supplement plans or policies or to coverage provided under
any public program, including, but not limited to, Medi-Cal or the
Healthy Families Program.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 92655.1 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
   92655.1.  The Legislature requests the Regents of the University
of California, to the extent possible, to use existing resources to
establish dental, medical, and optometric health professions outreach
and exposure programs for elementary and high school pupils and
undergraduate students, including community college students.