Supported by CANHR

The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing has been pioneered by municipalities and counties in California as a way for property owners to finance voluntary energy and water efficiency and clean energy improvements. As with any program, problems exist, and recent trends have shown that with PACE loans, there is great potential for abusive lending practices and fraud, particularly for loans made to older and low-income homeowners.

The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing has been pioneered by municipalities and counties in California as a way for property owners to finance voluntary energy and water efficiency and clean energy improvements. As with any program, problems exist, and recent trends have shown that with PACE loans, there is great potential for abusive lending practices and fraud, particularly for loans made to older and low-income homeowners.

Currently, the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (EADACPA) establishes procedures and requirements for reporting instances of known or suspected abuses or neglect of a California elder or dependent adult. Information relevant to the incident is to be given to specified investigators, including investigators from an adult protective services agency, a local law enforcement agency, and the probate court.

If enacted, AB 447 would require the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation to expand the reporting information related to newly covered individuals. CANHR believes that the additional information that AB 447 mandates is common sense and will increase consumer protection. Read the Bill Read CANHR Support Letter

AB 714 ( Maienschein) would  require health facilities, including skilled nursing facilities, to report communicable disease data to the department, patients or residents of the health facility, and their representatives and family members. It would also require the department to post data relating to the total number of disease-related deaths and suspected disease-related deaths reported from the health facilities on its website on a weekly basis.

Establishes shared liability for entities that share ownership or control of nursing homes. Related parties will be liable for unpaid state monetary penalties for citations and unpaid Quality Assurance Fees. Read the Bill

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. Read the Bill

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.

This bill would require the Department of Public Health and the Department of Social Services to establish health and safety guidelines for use by skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and congregate living health facilities that are providing post-acute care during a pandemic, public health crisis, or other emergency. Read the Bill Read CANHR Support Letter

By many measures, nursing home care in California has never been worse. Complaints filed against nursing homes in California are at record levels. Chronic understaffing, inappropriate discharges, overdrugging, and poor infection control practices stubbornly persist and contributed to the unfathomable disaster that played out in nursing homes in 2020. AB 323 will enhance the state nursing home enforcement system by providing a long-overdue inflationary boost to nursing home citation penalties.

This bill would state the intent of the legislature to eliminate the Medi-Cal asset test. Read the Bill Read CANHR Support Letter

25% of California’s COVID deaths have occurred in nursing homes. Many of these deaths could have been prevented with modest training for medical directors. Medical directors are physicians who lead the clinical care and help set the facility culture in nursing homes. Some facilities have medical directors who lack the qualifications for the job. This bill will require nursing home medical directors to be certified by the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.

This bill would increase the monthly maintenance need allowance for long-term care Medi-Cal beneficiaries from $35 to $85. Read the Bill Read CANHR Support Letter

This bill would extend eligibility for full-scope Medi-Cal benefits to undocumented individuals who are 65 or older. Read the Bill Read CANHR Support Letter

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. Read the Bill Read CANHR Support Letter

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. Read the Bill Read CANHR Support Letter

This bill would permit adult residential facilities (ARFs) and residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) with at least 75% SSI recipients to be eligible to receive up to 60 hours of IHSS. Read the Bill

This bill would allow conservatees to seek representation by their preferred attorney, even if the attorney is not on the court’s list of approved attorneys. Read the Bill