Bill Text: CA AB744 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Health care coverage: telehealth.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-10-13 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 867, Statutes of 2019. [AB744 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB744-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Senate
June 25, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
May 16, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 22, 2019 |
Assembly Bill | No. 744 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry |
February 19, 2019 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
This bill would authorize the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care or the Insurance Commissioner to assess an administrative penalty by order, after appropriate notice and opportunity for hearing, if the director or commissioner determines that a health care service plan or health insurer has failed to comply with those provisions. The bill would require the administrative penalties collected for a health care service plan’s violations of those provisions to be transferred into the Managed Care Administrative Fines and Penalties Fund upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would specify that administrative penalties assessed against a health insurer be deposited into the Insurance Fund.
Because a willful violation of the bill’s requirements relative to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 2290.5 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:2290.5.
(a) For purposes of this division, the following definitions shall apply:SEC. 2.
Section 1374.13 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:1374.13.
(a) For the purposes of this section, the definitions in subdivision (a) of Section 2290.5 of the Business and Professions Code apply.SEC. 3.
Section 1374.14 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:1374.14.
(a) (1) A contract issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2020, between a health care service plan and a health care provider for the provision of health care services to an enrollee or subscriber shall specify that the health care service plan shall reimburse the treating or consulting health care provider for the diagnosis, consultation, or treatment of an enrollee or subscriber appropriately delivered through telehealth services on the same basis and to the same extent that the health care service plan is responsible for reimbursement for the same service through in-person diagnosis, consultation, or treatment.(e)If the director determines that a health care service plan has failed to meet a requirement of this section, the director may assess, by order, an administrative penalty for each failure. A proceeding for the issuance of an order assessing administrative penalties shall be subject to appropriate notice to, and an opportunity for a hearing with regard to, the person affected, in accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 1397. The administrative penalties shall not be an exclusive remedy for the director. These penalties shall be transferred to the Managed Care Administrative Fines and Penalties Fund,
as described in Section 1341.45, upon appropriation by the Legislature.
(f)
SEC. 4.
Section 10123.85 of the Insurance Code is amended to read:10123.85.
(a) For purposes of this section, the definitions in subdivision (a) of Section 2290.5 of the Business and Professions Code apply.SEC. 5.
Section 10123.855 is added to the Insurance Code, to read:10123.855.
(a) (1) A contract issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2020, between a health insurer and a health care provider for an alternative rate of payment pursuant to Section 10133 shall specify that the health insurer shall reimburse the treating or consulting health care provider for the diagnosis, consultation, or treatment of an insured or policyholder appropriately delivered through telehealth services on the same basis and to the same extent that the health insurer is responsible for reimbursement for the same service through in-person diagnosis, consultation, or treatment.(e)If the commissioner determines that an insurer has failed to meet a requirement of this section, the commissioner may assess, by order, an administrative penalty for each failure. A proceeding for the issuance of an order assessing administrative penalties shall be subject to appropriate notice to, and an opportunity for a hearing with regard to, the person affected. The administrative penalties shall not be an exclusive remedy for the commissioner. These
penalties shall be paid to the Insurance Fund.
(f)
SEC. 6.
Section 14132.725 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:14132.725.
(a) To the extent that federal financial participation is available, face-to-face contact between a health care provider and a patient is not required under the Medi-Cal program for(b)For purposes of this section, “teleophthalmology, teledermatology, and teledentistry by store and forward” means an asynchronous transmission of medical or dental information to be reviewed by a physician at a distant site who is trained in ophthalmology or dermatology or, for
teleophthalmology, by an optometrist who is licensed pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3000) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, or a dentist, where the physician, optometrist, or dentist at the distant site reviews the medical or dental information.
(c)