SB 21

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law provides for the licensure of various health facilities, including general acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and intermediate care facilities, and congregate living health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Certain of these facilities are included under the category of long-term health care facilities, as defined. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law requires each hospital to have in effect a written discharge planning policy and process that requires appropriate arrangements for posthospital care and a process that requires that each patient be informed, orally or in writing, of the continuing care requirements following discharge from the hospital, as specified, and additionally requires specific information to be provided to a patient anticipated to be in need of posthospital care. This bill would require a hospital that is required to provide, as part of its discharge policy, information to patients anticipated to need posthospital care, to provide the information both orally and in writing to the patient and, if necessary, to his or her representative, at the earliest possible opportunity prior to discharge. By changing the definition of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law establishes the California Partnership for Long-Term Care Program and requires the State Department of Health Care Services to adopt regulations to administer the program. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to initiate a process to develop or identify, by no later than July 1, 2013, a tool for the uniform long-term care services assessment of individuals in order to assist eligible consumers in finding long-term care services of their choice, as specified. The department would be required to submit a report on the use of these assessments to the Legislature. This bill, among other things, would require a county to establish a long-term care case management program for specified persons if the director makes a specified certification. The bill would require the program to provide prescribed services, including assessment of care needed for persons in long-term health care facilities, as defined, to enable them to reside in the community and the services necessary to provide that care, and would require the county or its designees to assign care managers to each long-term health care facility within the county. After these facilities are notified of the appropriate case manager, each facility would be required to inform the case manager when a new patient or resident is admitted and may need specified assistance. By changing the definition of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill also would require a long-term health care facility to display at least one poster, in an area accessible to residents, advertising the telephone number of the facility's designated case manager, thus changing the definition of an existing crime and imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require these persons, upon a discharge from a long-term health care facility, to be provided with prescribed services by the county, and would express intent pertaining to the funding of these services. Because the bill would impose various duties on each county, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.