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AB-2232 University of California: medical education.(2013-2014)

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Amended  IN  Senate  June 12, 2014
Amended  IN  Assembly  May 23, 2014

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2013–2014 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2232

Introduced by Assembly Member Gray
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Alejo)
(Coauthors: Senators Cannella and Galgiani)

February 21, 2014

An act relating to the University of California, and making an appropriation therefor.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2232, as amended, Gray. University of California: medical education.
Existing provisions of the California Constitution establish the University of California as a public trust under the administration of the Regents of the University of California. The University of California system includes 10 campuses, which are located in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.
This bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to the role of the University of California with respect to access to health care in the San Joaquin Valley.
The bill would appropriate $1,225,000 from the General Fund to the regents each fiscal year, commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year, for allocation to the University of California to support expansion of the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education, as specified.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: YES   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 federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, when fully implemented in 2014, will mean that millions of previously uninsured Californians will be seeking health services, including physician care. As a result of this additional demand for physician services, the projected statewide physician shortfall is 17,000 by 2015.
(b) The San Joaquin Valley, which runs from Stockton to Bakersfield, is rich in cultural diversity and is the nation’s leading agricultural region. However, the valley is disproportionately affected by the state’s physician shortage, which is expected to intensify in the years ahead given the high rate of population growth in the area. Access to health care is 31 percent lower in the San Joaquin Valley than in the rest of California.
(c) Several regions of the San Joaquin Valley are federally designated Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). The calculation of MUAs involves four variables: ratio of primary medical care physicians per 1,000 population, infant mortality rate, percentage of the population with incomes below the poverty level, and percentage of the population 65 years of age or over.
(d) UC Merced’s San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (PRIME) is providing a key resource for training valley health care providers. This program accomplishes all of the following:
(1) Strengthens the desire for new physicians to practice in the San Joaquin Valley, which is one of California’s most medically underserved areas.
(2) Reduces health disparities and inequalities in the San Joaquin Valley.
(3) Forms lasting relationships between the program and communities, hospitals, clinics, and physicians to enhance health care in the region.
(e) Students who take part in PRIME benefit from firsthand experience with interdisciplinary health care by providing care in medically underserved communities, working with patients and families from culturally diverse backgrounds, and developing a true understanding of the issues and conditions that impact access to and quality of health care in the region.
(f) Despite its numerous benefits for its region, PRIME lacks an ongoing source of funding for its current enrollment as well as the financial resources to expand capacity to meet the needs of the valley.

SEC. 2.

 The sum of one million two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($1,225,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Regents of the University of California each fiscal year, commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year, for allocation to the University of California to support expansion of the San Joaquin Valley PRIME program to admit up to 12 students per year and to operate the program with up to 48 student participants from across the four-year curriculum annually.