2019 California Legislation
CANHR is supporting, opposing and/or closely following the following pieces of legislation this session. This list is subject to change. Please check www.canhr.org for updated details on legislation, and leginfo.legislature.ca.gov for information on specific bills.
CANHR Sponsored Bills
AB 737 (Eggman) – Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly: Licensing and Regulation
This bill improves the information available to the Department of Social Services' Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) when deciding whether to approve or deny an application to operate a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE). Often, CCLD cannot identify the individuals who want to own or operate an RCFE, whether they have operated other facilities, and their operational or regulatory compliance history.
Status: Assembly Human Services Committee
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SB 314 (Dodd) – Elders and Dependent Adults: Abandonment
This would add “abandonment of an elder or dependent adult” as a cause of action under the Elder and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act of the Welfare and Institutions Code (EADACPA). Currently, EADACPA can only be used in instances where there has been physical abuse, neglect, or financial abuse.
Status: Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing 3/26/19
Read the Bill
CANHR Support
AB 50 (Kalra) - Assisted Living Waiver
This bill would improve the Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) Program by increasing the number of participant slots, expanding the geographic service area, and requiring the state to state minimum wage increases are reflected in the provider reimbursement rate.
Status: Assembly Health Committee Hearing on 3/26/19
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AB 506 (Kalra) – Long Term Health Facilities
This bill greatly enhances the state nursing home enforcement system by: 1) increasing the penalties for state citations issued against nursing homes and indexing the penalties to inflation for future years, 2) requiring a citation be issued for each victim when more than one victim is affected, and 3) updating the criteria for AA citations (those that cause the death of a resident) from the old “direct proximate cause of death’ standard to the more clear “substantial factor” standard.
Status: Assembly Health Committee Hearing on 4/2/19
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AB 715 (Arambula) – Medi-Cal: End the Senior Penalty
This bill would ensure that seniors are treated fairly and can afford to access medical care. The bill would decrease the number of low-income seniors losing free Medi-Cal by increasing the Medi-Cal income eligibility limit for seniors to 138% of the federal poverty level, an amount equivalent to other Medi-Cal income levels for younger adults.
Status: Assembly Health Committee Hearing on 4/2/19
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AB 1042 (Wood) – Home Upkeep Allowance
Maintaining a residence outside of a nursing home is a major obstacle for Medi-Cal beneficiaries in nursing homes who want to return home. Under current law, beneficiaries are permitted to retain a Home Upkeep Allowance of $209 per month, and the rest of their income must be applied to Share of Cost for nursing home care. This bill would base the Home Upkeep Allowance on the actual cost of maintaining the home, up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level.
Status: Assembly Health Committee Hearing on 4/2/19
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AB 1088 (Wood) – Medi-Cal Eligibility
This bill would stop seniors and persons with disabilities from yo-yoing between free and Share of Cost Medi-Cal.
Status: Assembly Health Committee Hearing on 4/2/19
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SB 214 (Dodd) – California Community Transitions Program
This bill would require California to continue to administer the California Community Transitions program under the federal Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration. If federal matching funds are unavailable, the bill would require the department to fund the program.
Status: Senate Health Committee
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SB 440 (Pan) - Cognitive Impairment Safety Net System Task Force
This bill would convene a task force to study and assess the need for a cognitive impairment safety net system, which could bring some long-range thinking and cohesion to the way we support Californians with cognitive impairment.
Status: Senate Huan Services Committee - Hearing on 4/18/2019
Read the Bill
CANHR Oppose
AB 999 (Patterson) – Disability Access: statutory damages
AB 999 is an erosion of mandated public accommodation protections for disabled adults. This bill would change the definition of what constitutes an exempted small business from one that employs twenty-five employees to fifty employees. This substantial change will interfere with thousands of handicapped individuals’ ability to access facilities.
Status: Assembly Judiciary Committee Hearing on 3/26/19
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AB 1709 (Jones-Sawyer) – Nursing homes: staff
This nursing home industry sponsored bill would reduce the minimum number of in-service training hours certified nursing assistants (CNAs) must complete every two years from 48 to 30 hours and allow all of the training to be obtained through an online training program. It would also modify nursing home administrator qualifications.
Status: Pending Referral
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SB 40 (Weiner) – Conservatorship: serious mental illness and substance abuse disorders
This bill would permit a temporary conservatorship process in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco counties without notice to the proposed conservatee or an opportunity to contest. SB 40 is clearly unconstitutional.
Status: Senate Judiciary Committee
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CANHR Watch
AB 683 (Carillo) – Medi-Cal: Eligibility
This bill increases and simplifies the asset eligibility limit for Medi-Cal and eliminates those limits for Medicare Savings Programs, which makes Medicare more affordable.
Status: Assembly Health Committee Hearing on 4/2/19
Read the Bill
Page Last Modified: April 1, 2019
