By CANHR has supported, opposed, and/or closely followed the below pieces of legislation this session. Please check www.canhrlegislation.com for updated details on legislation, and www.leginfo.ca.gov for information on specific bills.
CANHR Sponsored Bills
AB 279 (Muratsuchi): Prohibiting Resident Eviction During the Pandemic
Many residents of California skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) and Intermediate Care Facilities (“ICFs”) face a terrible prospect in the ongoing COVID pandemic: involuntary transfer to new facilities, sight unseen, far from their families and support networks. AB 279 would prohibit the owner of an ICF or SNF from ceasing to deliver or making significant changes to residential care services, or from transferring a resident to another facility, during any declared state of emergency relating to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), except if the owner files for bankruptcy. The bill’s protections would expire six months after the cessation of states of emergency, to permit residents and their families to assess new facilities if their current homes are going to close.
Status: Vetoed by Gov. Newsom
SB 650 (Stern): Skilled Nursing Facility Transparency and Accountability
Californians are paying more for nursing home care, for fewer residents, than ever before and we are not getting our money’s worth. Despite spending nearly six billion dollars a year, complaints against facilities are at record highs and the care provided is often abysmal. Nursing homes are using complex ownership structures to siphon unprecedented amounts of money to “related parties,” allowing corporate home offices to hide their profits and support facilities’ claims for yet more public money. SB 650 requires nursing homes to file annual consolidated financial statements, giving the State and the public more transparency for nursing home payments. The public has the right to know how much of its money is supporting nursing home residents versus how much is being spent on the lifestyles of billionaire nursing homes owners.
Status: Signed by Gov. Newsom
CANHR Support
AB 323 (Kalra): Long-Term Health Facilities
This bill enhances the state nursing home enforcement system by: 1) increasing the penalties for state citations issued against nursing homes to keep up with inflation and 2) 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 used by courts.
Status: Signed by Gov. Newsom
AB 470 (Carrillo): Medi-Cal Asset Test
This bill would eliminate the Medi-Cal asset test.
Status: Held under submissions in Appropriations Committee
AB 636 (Maienschein): Financial Abuse of Elder or Dependent Adults
This bill would authorize information relevant to the incident of elder or dependent adult abuse to be given to a federal law enforcement agency
Status: Signed by Gov. Newsom
AB 665 (Garcia): Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly: Resident Rights: Internet Access
This bill would amend the rights of residents of RCFEs, in those facilities with existing internet service, to add the right to have available at least one internet access tool with videoconference technology as part of the facility’s activity program.
Status: Signed by Gov. Newsom
AB 749 (Nazarian): Skilled nursing facilities: medical director certification
This bill would prohibit a skilled nursing facility from contracting with a medical director if the person is not, or will not be within 5 years, certified by the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine as a Certified Medical Director.
Status: Signed by Gov. Newsom
AB 849 (Reyes/Stern): Restoring the Enforcement of Nursing Home Resident Rights
Since 1982, California nursing home residents have had a “private right of action” (the ability to sue) for violations of their rights. Last year, the state Supreme Court ruled that nursing homes that violate the rights of residents may only be held liable for $500 maximum, regardless of how many rights a facility violates and how egregious those violations are. Nursing homes now routinely infringe multiple rights of residents and simply send the victims $500 checks as a license to violate. Poor care is officially profitable. AB 849 will restore facility liability to up to $500 per violation, so that offending facilities have to answer for every breach of resident rights it commits.
Status: Signed by Gov. Newsom
AB 1042 (Jones Sawyer): Related Party Accountability
Nursing homes investors are increasingly setting up “related party” businesses to avoid accountability and hide profits. AB 1042 would help counter that trend by establishing shared standards and liability for entities that have shared ownership and control. Specifically, the bill would make related parties liable for a nursing home’s unpaid State fees and fines.
Status: Signed by Gov. Newsom
SB 56 (Durazo): Medi-Cal Eligibility
This bill would extend eligibility for full-scope Medi-Cal benefits to undocumented individuals who are 65 or older. Referred to Assembly Appropriations
SB 281 (Dodd): California Community Transitions Program
This bill would make the California Community Care Transitions Program permanent, and reduce the time needed for an applicant to be considered “institutionalized” to 60 days spent in a Skilled Nursing Facility.
Status: Referred to Assembly Health Committee
SB 460 (Pan): Office of Patient Representative
This bill would create the Office of the Patient Representative to train and oversee patient representatives to protect the rights of nursing home residents who allegedly lack capacity to make decisions and have no surrogate decisionmaker available. Status: This bill was ordered to the inactive file, but provisions were included in budget trailer bill language.
SB 447 (Laird): Civil Actions: Decedent’s Cause of Action
This bill would permit damages for a decedent’s pain, suffering, or disfigurement to be recovered in an action brought by the decedent’s personal representative or successor in interest.
Status: Signed by Gov. Newsom
SB 648 (Hurtado): Care Facilities
This bill was ordered to the inactive file, but the provisions were included in budget trailer bill language. The provisions would create a pilot program to permit certain adult residential facilities (ARFs) and residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) to be eligible to receive a stipend of $1,000 per month per resident on SSI. Status: Ordered to the inactive file.
SB 664 (Allen) Hospice Licensure: Moratorium on New Licenses
This bill would impose a temporary moratorium on the issuance of new licenses to provide hospice services. Status: Signed by Gov. Newsom
CANHR Oppose
AB 499 (Rubio): Referral Source for Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly
This bill would require an RCFE referral agency to provide certain disclosures to seniors, and to maintain a minimum amount of liability coverage, but does not provide oversight or sufficient enforcement mechanisms. Status: Ordered to the inactive file.
FEDERAL
On June 30, Congressmembers Claudia Tenney and John Larson introduced H.R. 3733, a bipartisan bill that would guarantee nursing home residents’ right to critical in-person support from up to two essential caregivers, even during a pandemic. The essential caregivers are designated by the resident or the resident’s representative and would have up to 12 hours of access to the resident each day. If the bill becomes law, it would be a powerful rebuke to CMS and the states that adopted and maintained dangerous and overreaching bans on visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic. CANHR encourages everyone to contact their Congressmember and urge them to support H.R. 3733.