Here is a link to the report on the March meeting submitted by the Chair of the California delegation. Our thank to Dr. Robert Freedman and the other delegates from California who participate in these meetings.
The CSP is supporting two bills introduced in the Assembly that have passed their first Committees. AB 658 (Waldron) would eliminate clinical lab licensing fees for a two-year period from 2018-2019. Several State Auditor reports have highlighted the shortcomings of Lab Field Services in overseeing the licensing of clinical labs. They had a number of recommendations and also criticized the overcharging of labs with the accumulation of a $22 million reserve. AB 658 is awaiting action on the Assembly Floor on the Consent Calendar. The CSP would support additional LFS reforms and is working with partners in the clinical lab community to seek additional changes.
AB 659 (Ridley-Thomas) would change the current requirements for clinical labs to submit payment data to DHCS for purposes of Medi-Cal rate development. Current law requires many clinical labs to report payment data from private payers on an annual basis. AB 659 would change that submission requirement to once every three years beginning in 2019 and would also specify that the adjusted rates would be implemented on July 1, 2020 and July 1st of every three years thereafter. The current process is unduly burdensome, has low participation, and often results in retroactive adjustment to lab rates. AB 659 passed the Assembly Health Committee on a unanimous vote and moves next to Assembly Appropriations Committee.
