De Kamp, 012783 CAAGO, AGO 82-906

Case DateJanuary 27, 1983
CourtCalifornia
JOHN K. VAN DE KAMP Attorney General
RODNEY O. LILYQUIST Deputy Attorney General
AGO 82-906
No. 82-906
California Attorney General Opinion
Office of the Attorney General State of California
January 27, 1983
         THE HONORABLE PHILLIP D. WYMAN, MEMBER OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY, has requested an opinion on the following questions:
1. May a hospital district use district funds to provide family health insurance for the members of its board of directors? 2. Would the compensation limits established for hospital district board members in Health and Safety Code section 32103 be affected by a district providing family health insurance to its directors?
         CONCLUSION          1. A hospital district may use district funds to provide family health insurance for the members of its board of directors.          2. The compensation limits established for hospital district board members in Health and Safety Code section 32103 would not be affected by a district providing family health insurance to its directors.          ANALYSIS          Local public hospitals are established in California pursuant to the provisions of the Local Hospital District Law (Health & Saf. Code, §§ 32000-32492). The principal purpose of a hospital district is to establish, maintain, and operate health facilities within the territorial limits of the district. (See Health & Saf. Code, §§ 32121, 32125; Talley v. Northern San Diego Hosp. Dist. (1953) 41 Cal.2d 33, 40; 55 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 375, 375 (1972).)          The first question presented for analysis is whether a hospital district may use district funds to provide family health insurance for members of its board of directors. We conclude that it may.          To answer the question, we look to the specific statutory scheme dealing with the provision of health insurance benefits by local agencies (Gov. Code, §§ 53200-53210).1 The operative statute relevant to our inquiry is section 53201, subdivision (a), which provides:
"The legislative body of a local agency, subject to such conditions as may be established by it, may provide for any health and welfare benefits for the benefit of its officers, employees, retired employees, and retired members of the legislative body who elect to accept the benefits and who authorize the local agency to deduct the premiums, dues, or other charges from their compensation, to the extent that such charges are not covered by payments from funds under the jurisdiction of the local agency as permitted by
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