Contact: Robin Adam (209)726-5465
SACRAMENTO - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Thursday signed AB 1985 by Assemblymember Cathleen Galgiani (D-Livingston) which is part of prison health care Receiver J. Clark Kelso’s Taxpayer Relief bill package designed to help the Receiver achieve the proposed $820 million cut to the prison health care budget.
The bill, which becomes law Jan. 1, 2011, requires California Prison Health Care Services (CPHCS) to streamline and monitor invoices paid to contract health care providers such as outside doctors, hospitals, and ambulances.
A recent audit of past claims identified millions of dollars in billing and payment errors.
“The Prison Health Care Services was able to reclaim more than $15 million in contractor refunds to the State by catching these errors in the audit,” declared Galgiani. “AB 1985 will ensure that better systems and regular audits will prevent most errors and save millions in taxpayer dollars.”
In the past, CPHCS has labored to pay its contract health care providers on time, causing unnecessary additional costs and threatening CPHCS’ ability to work with providers. Manual claims processing has also resulted in costly payment errors.
“This bill will require the use of industry-standard forms and electronic systems to pay claims from contract health care providers. In addition, it would require the department to perform periodic audits of claims paid to ensure efficiency and cost savings,” expressed Receiver J. Clark Kelso.
The new law is expected to achieve at least $5-10 million worth of cost avoidance from these programs.
