Amended  IN  Senate  May 04, 2021
Amended  IN  Senate  April 08, 2021
Amended  IN  Senate  March 07, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 379

Introduced by Senator Wiener
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Cristina Garcia and Low)
(Coauthors: Senators Gonzalez, Hurtado, Laird, and Leyva)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Friedman and Wicks)

February 10, 2021

An act to add Chapter 3.95 (commencing with Section 12148) to Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, relating to public contracts.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 379, as amended, Wiener. University of California: contracts: health facilities.
Existing provisions of the California Constitution provide that the University of California constitutes a public trust and require the university to be administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes, including such competitive bidding procedures as may be applicable to the university by statute for the letting of construction contracts, sales of real property, and purchasing of materials, goods, and services.
Existing law governs competitive bidding by the University of California and also establishes specific restrictions on University of California contracts relating to work performed by workers outside of the United States.
This bill would prohibit the University of California, on and after January 1, 2022, from entering into, amending, or renewing any contract with any health facility contractor or subcontractor in which a health care practitioner employed by the University of California or a trainee of the University of California providing care in the health facility under that contract would be limited in the practitioner’s or trainee’s ability to provide patients with medical information or medical services due to policy-based restrictions on care in the health facility. The bill would require any contract between the University of California and a health facility pursuant to which a University of California-employed health care practitioner or trainee of the University of California provides care in the health facility to include a provision restating the substance of that prohibition. The bill would require any contract between the University of California and a health facility pursuant to which a University of California-employed health care practitioner or trainee of the University of California provides care in the health facility to provide that, in the event the health facility contractor or subcontractor violates the prohibition, the contract shall be terminated for noncompliance, and the contractor or subcontractor shall forfeit penalties to the University of California, as appropriate, in an amount equal to the amount paid by the university for the percentage of work that was performed. The bill would exempt from its provisions contracts between the University of California and prescribed health facility contractors or subcontractors. The bill would require the University of California to ensure that a health care practitioner or trainee of the University of California is able to complete their training. The bill would prohibit the University of California from extending or delaying a health practitioner’s training due to the loss of a clinical training rotation. The bill would require the University of California, before January 1, 2025, to find alternative facilities for trainees to complete their training. The bill would exempt from these provisions contracts in existence before January 1, 2022, that pertain to at least one health care practitioner who is a trainee of a University of California campus that does not own or operate its own health facility, until the earlier of January 1, 2028, or the date the University of California campus acquires ownership of, or begins operating, a health facility. The bill would define terms for these purposes.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The University of California is a public university system in the State of California and receives a sizable amount of public funds to conduct its mission. The University of California’s portion of the California state budget in 2020–2021 2020–21 was $9 billion, $3.5 billion of which is from the General Fund.
(b) UC Health is the fourth largest health care system in California and it trains more than one-half of the medical students and residents in California.
(c) Existing law recognizes that all reproductive health care, including abortion, is basic health care. Existing law further recognizes that public entities in California may not preference one pregnancy outcome over another.
(d) Existing law recognizes that denying transgender patients gender-affirming care is discrimination based on gender identity.
(e) Existing law recognizes that adults have a range of health care options for the end of life, including continuing measures to sustain life, withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatments, voluntarily forgoing food or drink, palliative treatments that may advance the time of death, hospice care, and medical aid in dying. These are personal decisions individuals make about their own lives and loved ones. Public entities should not favor one preference over the other.
(f) Existing law recognizes the need to protect patient access to comprehensive health care services free from bias and discrimination, as evidenced through the state Medi-Cal program, which prohibits any participating provider from discriminating against any beneficiary on the basis of race, color, age, sex, religion, ancestry, national origin, or physical or mental disability.
(g) The University of California has entered into contracts with health facility contractors in which University of California-employed health care practitioners and trainees of the University of California have been subjected to policy-based restrictions on care in the health facility that prevent the University of California practitioners and trainees from providing patients with medical information and services that are medically necessary and appropriate.
(h) Policy-based restrictions on care have serious implications for patients of color, particularly Black and Latinx low-income patients, whose unequal access to care has been largely dictated by the legacy of structural racism and socioeconomic inequities deeply embedded throughout the health care system.
(i) Policy-based restrictions on care undermine the University of California’s values of prioritizing patient-centered care, delivering evidence-based high-quality care, providing access to comprehensive reproductive health care, and ensuring access to nondiscriminatory care.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 3.95 (commencing with Section 12148) is added to Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, to read:
CHAPTER  3.95. University of California and Health Facility Contracts

12148.
 (a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, on and after January 1, 2022, the University of California shall not enter into, amend, or renew any contract with any health facility contractor or subcontractor in which a health care practitioner employed by the University of California or a trainee of the University of California providing care in the health facility under that contract would be limited in the practitioner’s or trainee’s ability to provide patients with medical information or medical services due to policy-based restrictions on care in the health facility.
(2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), this section shall not apply to contracts described in paragraph (1), if they meet both of the following criteria:
(i) The contract was in existence before January 1, 2022.
(ii) The contract pertains to at least one health care practitioner who is a trainee of a University of California campus that, as of January 1, 2022, does not own or operate its own health facility.
(B) Contracts exempt from this section under subparagraph (A) shall comply with this section no later than the earlier of the following dates: January 1, 2028, or the date the University of California campus acquires ownership of, or begins operating, a health facility.
(b) Any contract between the University of California and a health facility pursuant to which a University of California-employed health care practitioner or trainee of the University of California provides care in the health facility shall include a provision restating the substance of subdivision (a).
(c) Any contract between the University of California and a health facility pursuant to which a University of California-employed health care practitioner or trainee of the University of California provides care in the health facility shall provide that, in the event the health facility contractor or subcontractor violates subdivision (a), the contract shall be terminated for noncompliance, and the contractor or subcontractor shall forfeit penalties to the University of California, as appropriate, in an amount equal to the amount paid by the university for the percentage of work that was performed.
(d) This section shall not apply to a contract between the University of California and a health facility contractor or subcontractor that is any of the following:
(1) Located and operated in a foreign country.
(2) Operated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
(3) An Indian Health Service facility.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the University of California shall ensure that a health care practitioner or trainee of the University of California is able to complete their training. The University of California shall not extend or delay a health practitioner’s training due to the loss of a clinical training rotation. The University of California, before January 1, 2025, shall find alternative facilities for trainees to complete their training.
(f) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Health facility” shall have the same meaning as in Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) “Health care practitioner” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 680 of the Business and Professions Code.
(3) “Medical services” means medical treatments, referrals, and procedures.
(4) “Policy-based restrictions on care” means any nonclinical criteria, rules, or policies, whether written or unwritten, that restrict health care practitioners at that health facility from providing any procedures or benefits that are considered covered benefits under the Medi-Cal program or any Medi-Cal specialty programs that the health care practitioners are licensed to provide and that the health facility has the equipment and facilities to provide.
(5) “Trainee of the University of California” means a resident or fellow employed by the University of California or a student enrolled in the University of California in a health care practitioner discipline.