(SACRAMENTO) - Assembly Bill 651, authored by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), passed the Assembly Health Committee today on a bipartisan vote of 11-1. This bill strengthens the Attorney General’s oversight authority to preserve and promote culturally sensitive and language appropriate health care for our increasingly diverse seniors.
Under this bill, the Attorney General is given additional time to approve or reject a non-profit health care facility sale to a for-profit buyer from 60 to 90 days. It additionally requires public notice of a hearing to be provided not only in English but in the languages spoken by the health care recipient community, and requires the Attorney General to consider whether the transaction will have an adverse impact on the significant cultural interests of the affected community.
“Many seniors in the South Bay and throughout the state are deeply concerned about culturally sensitive and language appropriate health care services,” said Muratsuchi. “We need to strengthen the Attorney General’s public interest oversight authority so that we can preserve and promote culturally sensitive health care when a nonprofit provider is sold to a for-profit buyer.”
The Attorney General is, by law, required to review and approve the sale of non-profit health care facilities to for-profit buyers. Recently, a number of these transactions have involved facilities originally established to serve elderly immigrant communities requiring culturally sensitive and language-appropriate services.
As part of the approval process, the Attorney General may conduct one or more public hearings, one of which must be in the county where the facility is located, to hear comments from health care recipients and their families, stakeholders, and the community. The written notice of these hearings, including their time and location, may not be in a language spoken by the health care recipients or community members. This can lead to immigrant communities being left out not only of the hearings, but of the Attorney General’s review and approval process.
The bill now moves to the Assembly Judiciary Committee, and will be heard in April.