Cal. HSC § 1266 — California Code / Code hsc / Division 2 / Chapter 2 / Article 2 / Section 1266
Section 1266
Status: in_force

(a) The Licensing and Certification Program shall be supported entirely by federal funds and special funds by no earlier than the beginning of the 2009–10 fiscal year unless otherwise specified in statute, or unless funds are specifically appropriated from the General Fund in the annual Budget Act or other enacted legislation.

(b) Commencing February 1, 2007, and every February 1 thereafter, the Licensing and Certification Program shall publish a list of estimated program fees, including, but not limited to, annual licensing, report of change application, and written notification fees pursuant to this section. The calculation of estimated fees and the publication of the report and list of estimated fees shall not be subject to the rulemaking requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(c) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, by February 1 of each year, the department shall prepare the following reports and shall make those reports, and the list of estimated fees required to be published pursuant to subdivision (b), available to the public by submitting them to the Legislature and posting them on the department’s internet website:

(1) A report of all costs for activities of the Licensing and Certification Program. At a minimum, this report shall include a narrative of all baseline adjustments and their calculations, a description of how each category of facility was calculated, descriptions of assumptions used in any calculations, and shall recommend Licensing and Certification Program fees in accordance with the following:

(A) Projected workload and costs shall be grouped for each fee category, including workload costs for facility categories that have been established by statute and for which licensing regulations and procedures are under development.

(B) Cost estimates, and the estimated fees, shall be based on the appropriation amounts in the Governor’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year, with and without policy adjustments to the fee methodology.

(C) The allocation of program, operational, and administrative overhead, and indirect costs to fee categories shall be based on generally accepted cost allocation methods. Significant items of costs shall be directly charged to fee categories if the expenses can be reasonably identified to the fee category that caused them. Indirect and overhead costs shall be allocated to all fee categories using a generally accepted cost allocation method.

(D) The amount of federal funds and General Fund moneys to be received in the budget year shall be estimated and allocated to each fee category based upon an appropriate metric.

(E) The fee for each category shall be determined by dividing the aggregate state share of all costs for the Licensing and Certification Program by the appropriate metric for the category of licensure. Amounts received for new licensure applications, including change of ownership applications, and late payment penalties, pursuant to Section 1266.5, during each fiscal year shall be calculated and 95 percent shall be applied to the appropriate fee categories in determining Licensing and Certification Program fees for the second fiscal year following receipt of those funds. The remaining 5 percent shall be retained in the fund as a reserve until appropriated.

(2) (A) A staffing and systems analysis to ensure efficient and effective utilization of fees collected, proper allocation of departmental resources to licensing and certification activities, survey schedules, complaint investigations, enforcement and appeal activities, data collection and dissemination, surveyor training, and policy development.

(B) The analysis under this paragraph shall be made available to interested persons and shall include all of the following:

(i) The number of surveyors and administrative support personnel devoted to the licensing and certification of health care facilities.

(ii) The percentage of time devoted to licensing and certification activities for the various types of health facilities.

(iii) The number of facilities receiving full surveys and the frequency and number of followup visits.

(iv) The number and timeliness of complaint investigations, including data on the department’s compliance with the requirements of paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 1420.

(v) Data on deficiencies and citations issued, and numbers of arbitration hearings.

(vi) Other applicable activities of the Licensing and Certification Program.

(3) The annual program fee report described in subdivision (d) of Section 1416.36.

(d) The reports required pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(e) Commencing in the 2015–16 fiscal year, the fees for skilled nursing facilities shall be increased so as to generate four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) for the California Department of Aging’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program for its work related to investigating complaints made against skilled nursing facilities and increasing visits to those facilities.

(f) Commencing in the 2018–19 fiscal year, the Licensing and Certification Program may assess a supplemental program fee on facilities located in the County of Los Angeles for all facility types set forth in this section. This supplemental program fee shall be in addition to the program fees set forth in the estimated program fee list described in subdivision (b). The Licensing and Certification Program shall calculate the supplemental program fee based upon the difference between the estimated costs of regulating facility types licensed in the County of Los Angeles, including, but not limited to, the costs associated with the Licensing and Certification Program’s contract for licensing and certification activities with the County of Los Angeles and the costs of the Licensing and Certification Program conducting the licensing and certification activities for facilities located in the County of Los Angeles. The supplemental program fees shall be used to cover the costs to administer and enforce state licensure standards and other federal compliance activities for facilities located in the County of Los Angeles, as described in the annual report. The supplemental program fee shall be based upon the fee methodology published in the annual report described in subdivision (b).

(g) (1) The Licensing and Certification Program shall adjust the list of estimated fees published pursuant to subdivision (b) if the annual Budget Act or other enacted legislation includes an appropriation that differs from those proposed in the Governor’s proposed budget for that fiscal year.

(2) The Licensing and Certification Program shall publish a final fee list, with an explanation of any adjustment, by the issuance of an all facilities letter, by posting the list on the department’s internet website, and by including the final fee list as part of the licensing application package, within 14 days of the enactment of the annual Budget Act. The adjustment of fees and the publication of the final fee list shall not be subject to the rulemaking requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(h) Fees shall not be assessed or collected pursuant to this section from any state department, authority, bureau, commission, or officer, unless federal financial participation would become available by doing so and an appropriation is included in the annual Budget Act for that state department, authority, bureau, commission, or officer for this purpose. Fees shall not be assessed or collected pursuant to this section from any clinic that is certified only by the federal government and is exempt from licensure under Section 1206, unless federal financial participation would become available by doing so.

(i) The Licensing and Certification Program may change annual license expiration renewal dates to provide for efficiencies in operational processes or to provide for sufficient cashflow to pay for expenditures. If an annual license expiration date is changed, the annual license fee shall be prorated accordingly. Facilities shall be provided with a 60-day notice of any change in their annual license renewal date. If a licensee voluntarily surrenders its license, they shall not be entitled to a refund for the remainder of the license period.

(j) Commencing with the 2018–19 November Program estimate, the Licensing and Certification Program shall evaluate the feasibility of reducing investigation timelines based on experience with implementing paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 1420.