DID CALIFORNIA LOSE $30,000,000 IN GENERAL FUND REVENUES?

Yes, indeed, asserts this author: here's how. The State of California gives away de facto licensure to practice medicine to out-of-state doctors who are not licensed in California. Since passage of SB 899 in California, insurance companies have had the right to seek utilization review (UR) from doctors who aren't licensed in California and who haven't done the 12-hour pain management course that is required of doctors licensed in California. Non-California licensed doctors are not held accountable for wrong-doing by the Medical Board of California since they're not licensed in this state. Neither are they reponsible to the medical boards of their own states since their own medical state boards don't have jurisdiction in California. This largesse has allowed insurance companies to retain utilization reviewers from out-of-state who are compliant with the interests of insurance and UR companies. These UR doctors don't pay fees to the medical board of California. Wrongful decisions which delay or deny care to injured workers conserve money for the insurance industry and reduce taxable income since providers of care don't have to be paid.  

Protest has evolved. In 2008 Assemblywoman Sally Lieber presented AB 2968 which would have required licensure. The bill passed the legislature but Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed it. That veto is estimated to have caused California to lose about $10,000,000 in fees and taxable revenues that would have gone to the General Fund. Then Assemblyman Paul Fong presented AB 933 to accomplish the same goal. This bill also passed the legislature but Governor  Schwarzenegger vetoed it again. So now the state was down another $10,000,000 for a total of $20,000,000. But Paul Fong got a second chance with AB 584 which also passed the legislature. The surprise came when Governor Brown vetoed it ostensibly because he didn't want piecemeal changes in workers comp legislation (although he approved piecemeal legislation in other areas). Now the state's loss was an estimated $30,000,000. Not to worry, of course, tax payers can always make up the loss.

COMES NOW AB 1687 (Fong) and AB 1848 (Atkins). Both bills offer corrective measures and deserve serious consideration. Fong's bill would require clear and concise language to explain delays or denials of care by utilization reviewers. It would not require California licensure. It would not require the out-of-state non-California licensed doctors to complete the 12-hour pain management course that is a requirement in law for licensed California doctors. All the same it is a step in the right direction. Atkins' bill is the stronger bill since it would require a specified level of certification and would bring the out-of-state doctors under the purview of the medical board of California. Its wording doesn't specify that these doctors would have to comply with the 12-hour pain management requirement. Both bills can still be amended further if the authors want it done.

Cave Canem (beware of the dog) Get it done lest the next time we turn around our state will have lost $40,000,000 -- not to worry, right? We tax payers always make up the difference.