A controversial Assembly bill that would have kicked two Orange County supervisors off the board of CalOptima Health was rewritten Wednesday to allow them to remain.
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The bill, AB 2194 by Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, also was amended to retain the county Board of Supervisors’ ability to appoint the CalOptima board. The last-minute changes were scheduled to be presented Wednesday afternoon to the state Senate health committee.
Created more than 30 years ago by the county Board of Supervisors, CalOptima is Orange County’s $4.7 billion health insurer for the poor.
The charges this week mark the third time the bill has been amended.
Valencia, D-Anaheim, originally introduced the bill in February to stagger the terms of the 10-member board — two of them county supervisors. The head of Orange County’s Health Care Agency serves in a nonvoting capacity.
The initial bill also would have allowed an alternate member form the Board of Supervisors to have access to confidential CalOptima materials.
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Valencia, however, dramatically changed the bill last week to boot the supervisors from the CalOptima board of directors and strip the supervisors of their ability to appoint the CalOptima board members. Valencia said he was trying to depoliticize the board.
However, after strong protests from a stunned county Board of Supervisors and the CalOptima board of directors, Valencia switched gears. The new language sets the terms of county supervisors to one year and requires CalOptima to order an independent audit of the agency’s ethics, policies and practices. The investigation would have to be completed by July 1, 2027, and be released to the public.
Under the bill’s new language, the county Health Care Agency would make nominations for membership to the CalOptima board, which would be appointed by county supervisors.
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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.