(a)
The Attorney General shall prepare a plan for an evaluation of whether additional standards for charitable care and community benefits should be established for private, not-for-profit corporations that operate or control a general acute care hospital as defined in Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b)
In preparing the plan, the Attorney General shall consult with representatives of interested parties, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1)
Health facility associations.
(2)
Physician organizations.
(3)
Consumer groups.
(4)
Health care employee organizations.
(5)
Community groups.
(6)
The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
(c)
The plan shall provide for the evaluation of all of the following:
(1)
The degree to which private, not-for-profit hospitals provide charitable care and community benefits, including the nature of the benefits, the definition of the community, and a comparison of the cost of providing the benefit with the value of the benefits given to the community.
(2)
The implications of the relationships among private not-for-profit hospitals and affiliated entities, as defined in Section 5031 of the Corporations Code, for purposes of determining community benefits.
(3)
The role of the board of directors of private, not-for-profit hospitals in ensuring benefit to the community.
(d)
The plan shall be submitted to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by March 1, 2001.