Terms Used In California Codes > Financial Code > Division 5 > Chapter 3 > Article 1 - General

• Advisory committee: means the Health Care Equity Measures Advisory Committee established pursuant to Section 127376. See California Health and Safety Code 127371
• Committee membership: Legislators are assigned to specific committees by their party. Seniority, regional balance, and political philosophy are the most prominent factors in the committee assignment process.
• Community: means the service areas or patient populations for which the hospital provides health care services. See California Health and Safety Code 127345
• Community benefits plan: means the written document prepared for annual submission to the Department of Health Care Access and Information that shall include, but shall not be limited to, a description of the activities that the hospital has undertaken in order to address identified community needs within its mission and financial capacity, and the process by which the hospital developed the plan in consultation with the community. See California Health and Safety Code 127345
• County: includes city and county. See California Health and Safety Code 14
• department: means State Department of Health Services. See California Health and Safety Code 20
• Department: means the Department of Health Care Access and Information. See California Health and Safety Code 127400
• Director: means "State Director of Health Services. See California Health and Safety Code 21
• Disparity reduction: means a reduction in variation in disease occurrence, including communicable diseases and chronic conditions, as well as health outcomes for vulnerable populations. See California Health and Safety Code 127371
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Equity report: means a written document prepared for annual submission to the Department of Health Care Access and Information pursuant to this article. See California Health and Safety Code 127371
• Essential living expenses: means , for purposes of this subdivision, expenses for any of the following: rent or house payment and maintenance, food and household supplies, utilities and telephone, clothing, medical and dental payments, insurance, school or child care, child or spousal support, transportation and auto expenses, including insurance, gas, and repairs, installment payments, laundry and cleaning, and other extraordinary expenses. See California Health and Safety Code 127400
• Federal poverty level: means the poverty guidelines updated periodically in the Federal Register by the United States Department of Health and Human Services under authority of subsection (2) of Section 9902 of Title 42 of the United States Code. See California Health and Safety Code 127400
• Financially qualified patient: means a patient who is both of the following:

  California Health and Safety Code 127400

• high medical costs: means any of the following:

  California Health and Safety Code 127400

• Hospital: means a private not-for-profit acute hospital licensed under subdivision (a), (b), or (f) of Section 1250 and is owned by a corporation that has been determined to be exempt from taxation under the United States Internal Revenue Code. See California Health and Safety Code 127345
• Hospital: means an acute hospital licensed pursuant to subdivision (a), (b), or (f) of Section 1250. See California Health and Safety Code 127371
• Hospital: means a facility that is required to be licensed under subdivision (a), (b), or (f) of Section 1250, except a facility operated by the State Department of State Hospitals or the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. See California Health and Safety Code 127400
• Hospital system: means an entity or system of entities that includes or owns two or more hospitals within the state, of which at least one is a general acute care hospital, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250. See California Health and Safety Code 127371
• Integrated system: means an entity or system of entities that includes one or more hospitals and is related to one or more hospitals, health plans, or physician groups through parent-subsidiary relationships, contractual relationships, or common boards and shared senior management. See California Health and Safety Code 127371
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• patient with high medical costs: means a person whose family income does not exceed 400 percent of the federal poverty level, as defined in subdivision (b). See California Health and Safety Code 127400
• Person: means any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company. See California Health and Safety Code 19
• Person: includes any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, limited liability company, syndicate, estate, trust, business trust, or organization of any kind. See California Financial Code 18
• Reasonable payment plan: means monthly payments that are not more than 10 percent of a patient's family income for a month, excluding deductions for essential living expenses. See California Health and Safety Code 127400
• Self-pay patient: means a patient who does not have third-party coverage from a health insurer, health care service plan, Medicare, or Medicaid, and whose injury is not a compensable injury for purposes of workers' compensation, automobile insurance, or other insurance as determined and documented by the hospital. See California Health and Safety Code 127400
• Spouse: includes "registered domestic partner" as required by §. See California Health and Safety Code 12.2
• State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Health and Safety Code 23
• Vulnerable populations: means any population that is exposed to medical or financial risk by virtue of being uninsured, underinsured, or eligible for Medi-Cal, Medicare, California Children's Services Program, or county indigent programs. See California Health and Safety Code 127345
• Vulnerable populations: includes both of the following:

  California Health and Safety Code 127371