The California 2023-2024 legislative session ended on September14, at midnight. After both houses approve a bill, it goes to the Governor and the Governor has three choices - sign the bill into law, allow it to become law without their signature, or veto it. The Governor had until midnight, October 14, to determine the fate of hundreds of bills. Most bills go into effect on the first day of January of next year. Urgent measures take effect immediately after they are signed or allowed to become law without signature.
CAFP advocated for numerous bills that aligned with our strategic goals to – advance payment reform and system transformation, raise the profile of family medicine, prioritize justice through diversity, equity, and inclusion, and alleviate burnout and support member wellness and joy in medicine. CAFP supported 79 bills and 32 passed the Legislature. Below is a summary along with the status of CAFP-supported bills that passed the Legislature and were either signed into law or vetoed by the Governor.
Defining and Raising the Profile of Family Medicine
SCR 23( Newman D)- Family Physician Week.
Status: Signed into Law.
This measure would designate the week of March 26, 2023, to April 2, 2023, inclusive, as Family Physician Week.
Access & Equity
AB 85 (Weber D)- Social determinants of health: screening and outreach.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
This bill would require a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, to include coverage for screenings for social determinants of health, as defined. The bill would require providers to use specified tools or protocols when documenting patient responses to questions asked in these screenings. The bill would require a health care service plan or health insurer to provide physicians who provide primary care services with adequate access to community health workers, peer support specialists, lay health workers, community health representatives, or social workers in counties where the health care service plan or health insurer has enrollees or insureds, as specified. The bill would authorize the respective departments to adopt guidance to implement its provisions.
AB 230(Reyes D)-Menstrual products: Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021
Status: Signed into Law.
The Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021 requires a public school, as provided, maintaining any combination of classes from grades 6 to 12, inclusive, to stock the school’s restrooms with an adequate supply of free menstrual products, as defined, available and accessible, free of cost, in all women’s restrooms and all-gender restrooms, and in at least one men’s restroom, at all times, and to post a certain notice, on or before the start of the 2022–23 school year, as prescribed. This bill would extend these requirements, commencing on or before the start of the 2024–25 school year, to instead apply to public schools maintaining any combination of classes from grades 3 to 12, inclusive.
AB 608 (Schiavo D)- Medi-Cal: comprehensive perinatal services.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
Under current law, a pregnant individual or targeted low-income child who is eligible for, and is receiving, health care coverage under any of specified Medi-Cal programs is eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal benefits for the duration of the pregnancy and for a period of one year following the last day of the individual’s pregnancy. This bill, during the one-year postpregnancy eligibility period, and as part of comprehensive perinatal services under Medi-Cal, would require the State Department of Health Care Services to cover additional comprehensive perinatal assessments and individualized care plans and to provide additional visits and units of services in an amount, duration, and scope that are at least proportional to those available on July 27, 2021, during pregnancy and the initial 60-day postpregnancy period in effect on that date. The bill would require the department, in coordination with the State Department of Public Health, to consider input from certain stakeholders, as specified, in determining the specific number of additional comprehensive perinatal assessments, individualized care plans, visits, and units of services to be covered.
AB 719(Boerner D)- Medi-Cal: nonmedical and nonemergency medical transportation.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to require Medi-Cal managed care plans that are contracted to provide nonmedical transportation or nonemergency medical transportation to contract with public paratransit service operators who are enrolled Medi-Cal providers for the purpose of establishing reimbursement rates for nonmedical and nonemergency medical transportation trips provided by a public paratransit service operator. The bill would require the rates reimbursed by the managed care plan to the public paratransit service operator to be based on the department’s fee-for-service rates for nonmedical and nonemergency medical transportation service, as specified. The bill would condition implementation of these provisions on receipt of any necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation.
AB 948(Berman D)-Prescription drugs.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law prohibits the copayment, coinsurance, or any other form of cost sharing for a covered outpatient prescription drug for an individual prescription from exceeding $250 for a supply of up to 30 days, except as specified. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy for a nongrandfathered individual or small group product that maintains a drug formulary grouped into tiers, and that includes a 4th tier, to define each tier of the drug formulary, as specified. Current law defines Tier 4 to include, among others, drugs that are biologics. Current law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2024. This bill would delete drugs that are biologics from the definition of Tier 4. The bill would require a health care service plan or a health insurer, if there is a generic equivalent to a brand name drug, to ensure that an enrollee or insured is subject to the lowest cost sharing that would be applied, whether or not both the generic equivalent and the brand name drug are on the formulary. The bill also would delete the January 1, 2024, repeal date of the above provisions, thus making them operative indefinitely.
AB 1203( Bains D)- Sales and use taxes: exemptions: breast pumps and related supplies.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current state sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. This bill, on or after April 1, 2024, and before April 1, 2029, would exempt the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, breast pumps, breast pump collection and storage supplies, breast pump kits, and breast pads.
AB 1241(Weber D)- Medi-Cal: telehealth.
Status: Signed into Law.
Under current law, in-person, face-to-face contact is not required when covered health care services by the Medi-Cal Program are provided by video synchronous interaction, audio-only synchronous interaction, remote patient monitoring, or other permissible virtual communication modalities, when those services and settings meet certain criteria. Current law requires a provider furnishing services through video synchronous interaction or audio-only synchronous interaction, by a date set by the State Department of Health Care Services, no sooner than January 1, 2024, to also either offer those services via in-person contact or arrange for a referral to, and a facilitation of, in-person care, as specified. This bill would instead require, under the above-described circumstance, a provider to maintain and follow protocols to either offer those services via in-person contact or arrange for a referral to, and a facilitation of, in-person care. The bill would specify that the referral and facilitation arrangement would not require a provider to schedule an appointment with a different provider on behalf of a patient.
AB 1651(Sanchez R)- Pupil health: emergency medical care: epinephrine auto-injectors.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law requires school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to provide emergency epinephrine auto-injectors to school nurses or trained volunteer personnel and authorizes school nurses and trained personnel to use epinephrine auto-injectors to provide emergency medical aid to persons suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from an anaphylactic reaction, as provided. Current law defines “volunteer” and “trained personnel” for these purposes to mean an employee who has volunteered to administer epinephrine auto-injectors, as provided. This bill would require school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to, among other things, store those emergency epinephrine auto-injectors in an accessible location upon need for emergency use and include that location in specified annual notices. This bill would extend the definition of “volunteer” and “trained personnel” to include the holder of an Activity Supervisor
Clearance Certificate, as specified, who has volunteered to administer epinephrine auto-injectors, as provided.
SB 90(Wiener D) Health care coverage: insulin affordability.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
This bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or a disability insurance policy, as specified, issued, amended, delivered, or renewed on or after January 1, 2024, or a contract or policy offered in the individual or small group market on or after January 1, 2025, from imposing a copayment, coinsurance, deductible, or other out-of-pocket expense of more than $35 for a 30-day supply of an insulin prescription drug, and would prohibit a high deductible health plan from imposing a deductible, coinsurance, or other cost sharing on an insulin prescription drug, as specified. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
SB 257(Portantino D) Health care coverage: diagnostic imaging.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract issued, amended, delivered, or renewed on or after January 1, 2000, or an individual or group policy of disability insurance or self-insured employee welfare benefit plan to provide coverage for mammography for screening or diagnostic purposes upon referral by specified professionals. Under existing law, mammography performed pursuant to those requirements or that meets the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force is provided to an enrollee or an insured without cost sharing. This bill would require a health care service plan contract, a policy of health insurance that provides hospital, medical, or surgical coverage, or a self-insured employee welfare benefit plan issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, to provide coverage without imposing cost sharing for, among other things, screening mammography and medically necessary diagnostic breast imaging, including diagnostic breast imaging following an abnormal mammography result and for an enrollee or insured indicated to have a risk factor associated with breast cancer, except as specified. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 496(Limon D)- Biomarker testing.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law applies the provisions relating to biomarker testing to Medi-Cal managed care plans, as prescribed. This bill would require a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2024, to provide coverage for medically necessary biomarker testing, as prescribed, including whole genome sequencing, for the purposes of diagnosis, treatment, appropriate management, or ongoing monitoring of an enrollee’s or insured’s disease or condition to guide treatment decisions, as prescribed. The bill would specify that it does not require a health care service plan or health insurer to cover biomarker testing for screening purposes unless otherwise required by law. The bill would subject restricted or denied use of biomarker testing for the purpose of diagnosis, treatment, or ongoing monitoring of a medical condition to state and federal grievance and appeal processes. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
SB 770(Wiener D)- Health care: unified health care financing.
Status: Signed into Law.
This bill would direct the Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency to research, develop, and pursue discussions of a waiver framework in consultation with the federal government with the objective of a health care system that incorporates specified features and objectives, including, among others, a comprehensive package of medical, behavioral health, pharmaceutical, dental, and vision benefits, and the absence of cost sharing for essential services and treatments. The bill would further require the secretary to engage specified stakeholders to provide input on topics related to discussions with the federal government and key design issues, as specified. The bill would require the secretary, no later than January 1, 2025, to provide an interim report to specified committees of the Legislature and propose statutory language to the chairs of those committees authorizing the development and submission of applications to the federal government for waivers necessary to implement a unified health care financing system. The bill would require the secretary, no later than June 1, 2025, to complete drafting the waiver framework, make the draft available to the public on the agency’s internet website, and hold a 45-day public comment period thereafter. The bill would require the secretary, no later than November 1, 2025, to provide the Legislature and the Governor with a report that communicates the finalized waiver framework, as specified, and sets forth the specific elements to be included in a formal waiver application to establish a unified health care financing system, as specified.
SB 786(Portantino D)- Prescription drug pricing.
Status: Signed into Law.
This bill would prohibit a pharmacy benefit manager from discriminating against a covered entity or its pharmacy in connection with dispensing a drug subject to federal pricing requirements or preventing a covered entity from retaining the benefit of discounted pricing for those drugs.
Reproductive Health
AB 254(Bauer-Kahan D)-Confidentiality of Medical Information Act: reproductive or sexual health application information.
Status: Signed into Law
The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, a contractor, or a corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliates from intentionally sharing, selling, using for marketing, or otherwise using any medical information, as defined, for any purpose not necessary to provide health care services to a patient, except as provided. The CMIA makes a business that offers software or hardware to consumers, including a mobile application or other related device that is designed to maintain medical information in order to make the information available to an individual or a provider of health care at the request of the individual or a provider of health care, for purposes of allowing the individual to manage the individual's information or for the diagnosis, treatment, or management of a medical condition of the individual, a provider of health care subject to the requirements of the CMIA. Current law makes a violation of these provisions that results in economic loss or personal injury to a patient punishable as a misdemeanor.
This bill would revise the definition of "medical information" to include reproductive or sexual health application information, which the bill would define to mean information about a consumer's reproductive or sexual health collected by a reproductive or sexual health digital service, as specified. The bill would make a business that offers a reproductive or sexual health digital service to a consumer for the purpose of allowing the individual to manage the individual's information, or for the diagnosis, treatment, or management of a medical condition of the individual, a provider of health care subject to the requirements of the CMIA.
AB 352(Bauer-Kahan D)- Health information.
Status: Signed into Law.
This bill would require specified businesses that electronically store or maintain medical information on the provision of sensitive services on behalf of a provider of health care, health care service plan, pharmaceutical company, contractor, or employer to develop capabilities, policies, and procedures, on or before July 1, 2024, to enable certain security features, including limiting user access privileges and segregating medical information related to gender affirming care, abortion and abortion-related services, and contraception, as specified. The bill would additionally prohibit a provider of health care, health care service plan, contractor, or employer from cooperating with any inquiry or investigation by, or from providing medical information to, an individual, agency, or department from another state or, to the extent permitted by federal law, to a federal law enforcement agency that would identify an individual or that is related to an individual seeking or obtaining an abortion or abortion-related services that are lawful under the laws of this state, unless the request for medical information is authorized in accordance with specified existing provisions of law. The bill would exempt a provider of health care from liability for damages or from civil or enforcement actions relating to cooperating with, or providing medical information to, another state or a federal law enforcement agency before January 31, 2026, if the provider of health care is working diligently and in good faith to comply with the prohibition.
AB 576(Weber D)-Medi-Cal: reimbursement for abortion.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services, by March 1, 2024, to review and update Medi-Cal coverage policies for medication abortion to align with current evidence-based clinical guidelines. After the initial review, the bill would require the department to update its Medi-Cal coverage policies for medication abortion as needed to align with evidence-based clinical guidelines. The bill would require the department to allow flexibility for providers to exercise their clinical judgment when services are performed in a manner that aligns with one or more evidence-based clinical guidelines.
AB 1194(Carrillo, Wendy D)- California Privacy Rights Act of 2020: exemptions: abortion services.
Status: Signed into Law.
The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA) approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, grants a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected or sold by a business, as defined, including the right to require the business to delete personal information about the consumer, as specified, unless those obligations restrict a business’s ability to, among other things, comply with federal, state, or local laws or comply with a court order or subpoena to provide information, or cooperate with a government agency request for emergency access to a consumer’s personal information if a natural person is at risk or danger of death or serious physical injury, as provided. This bill would, if the consumer’s personal information contains information related to accessing, procuring, or searching for services regarding contraception, pregnancy care, and perinatal care, including, but not limited to, abortion services, require a business to comply with the obligations imposed by the CPRA unless the personal information is used for specified business purposes, as defined, is only retained in aggregated and deidentified form, and is not sold or shared. The bill would specify that the requirement to comply without regard to the above-described exceptions does not alter the duty to preserve or retain evidence in an ongoing civil proceeding.
AB 1432( Carrillo, Wendy D) Health coverage.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
Current law provides that a policy or certificate of group health insurance that is marketed, issued, or delivered to a California resident, regardless of the situs of the contract or master group policyholder, is subject to the requirements to provide equal coverage to domestic partners as is provided to spouses, notwithstanding any other provision of law. This bill additionally would subject a policy or certificate of group health insurance that is marketed, issued, or delivered to a California resident to all provisions of the Insurance Code requiring coverage of abortion, abortion-related services, and gender-affirming care, regardless of the situs of the contract or master group policyholder.
SB 541(Menjivar D)- Sexual health: contraceptives.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
This bill would in order to prevent and reduce unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, on or before the start of the 2024–25 school year, require each public school, including schools operated by a school district or county office of education, charter schools, and state special schools, to make internal and external condoms available to all pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, free of charge, as provided. The bill would require these public schools to, at the beginning of each school year, inform pupils through existing school communication channels that free condoms are available and where the condoms can be obtained on school grounds. The bill would require a public school to post at least one notice regarding these requirements, as specified. The bill would require this notice to include certain information, including, among other information, information about how to use condoms properly. The bill would require each public school serving any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to allow condoms to be made available during the course of, or in connection with, educational or public health programs and initiatives, as provided. The bill would authorize a state agency, the State Department of Education, or a public school to accept gifts, grants, and donations from any source for the support of a public school carrying out these provisions, including, but not limited to, the acceptance of condoms from a manufacturer or wholesaler. The bill would, in order to comply with these provisions, encourage public schools to explore partnerships, including, but not limited to, partnerships with local health jurisdictions, as defined, community health centers, nonprofit organizations, and the State Department of Public Health.
SB 571(Petrie-Norris D)- Medical malpractice insurance.
Status: Signed into Law.
This bill would prohibit an insurer from refusing to issue or renew or terminating professional liability insurance for health care providers, as specified, and from imposing a surcharge or increasing the premium or deductible solely based on any prohibited bases for discrimination, including a health care provider offering or performing abortion, contraception, gender-affirming health care, or care related to those health care services that are lawful in this state but unlawful in another state.
SB 694(Eggman D)-Medi-Cal: self-measured blood pressure devices and services.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
This bill would make self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) devices and SMBP services, as defined, covered benefits under the Medi-Cal program subject to utilization controls, as specified. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that those covered devices and services be no less in scope than the devices and services that are recognized under specified existing billing codes or their successors. The bill would condition implementation of that coverage on receipt of any necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation.
Behavioral Health
AB 33(Bains D)- Fentanyl Misuse and Overdose Prevention Task Force.
Status: Signed into Law.
This bill establishes the Fentanyl Misuse and Overdose Prevention Task Force to undertake various duties relating to fentanyl misuse, including, among others, collecting and organizing data on the nature and extent of fentanyl misuse in California and evaluating approaches to increase public awareness of fentanyl misuse. The bill requires the task force to be cochaired by the Attorney General and the State Public Health Officer, or their designees, and would specify the membership of the task force.
AB 461(Ramos D) Student safety: fentanyl test strips.
Status: Signed into Law.
This bill would require the governing board of each community college district and the Trustees of the California State University to provide information about the use and location of fentanyl test strips as part of established campus orientations and to notify students of the presence and location of fentanyl test strips. The bill would require the governing board of each community college district and the Trustees of the California State University to require that each campus health center stock and distribute fentanyl test strips, as specified. By imposing new duties on community college districts, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program. The bill would request that the Regents of the University of California comply with these requirements.
AB 663(Haney D)- Pharmacy: mobile units.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law authorizes a county, city and county, or special hospital authority, as defined, to operate a mobile unit as an extension of a pharmacy license held by the county, city and county, or special hospital authority to provide prescription medication within its jurisdiction to specified individuals, including those individuals without fixed addresses. Current law authorizes a mobile unit to dispense prescription medication pursuant to a valid prescription if the county, city and county, or special hospital authority meets prescribed requirements for licensure, staffing, and operations, including a prohibition on carrying or dispensing controlled substances. The California Uniform Controlled Substances Act classifies certain controlled substances into Schedules I to V, inclusive. This bill would instead authorize a county, city and county, or special hospital authority to operate one or more mobile units as an extension of a pharmacy license held by the county, city and county, or special hospital authority, as described above. The bill would require the pharmacist-in-charge to determine the number of mobile units that are appropriate for a particular pharmacy license.
SB 816(Haney D)- Minors: consent to medical care.
Status: Signed into Law.
The Vocational Nursing Practice Act establishes in the Department of Consumer Affairs a Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians of the State of California, which is charged with various licensing, regulatory, and disciplinary functions related to vocational nursing. Current law, effective until January 1, 2025, sets forth an approval process for a vocational nursing school or program and authorizes the board to reduce the continuing approval fees, by no more than 1/2 of the established fee, for a program that experiences a reduction in state funding that directly leads to a reduction in enrollment capacity. Current law, the Psychiatric Technicians Law, also grants the board authority to license and regulate psychiatric technicians. That law, effective until January 1, 2025, similarly establishes an approval process for a school or program for psychiatric technicians and authorizes the board to reduce the continuing approval fees, by no more than 1/2 of the established fee, for a program that experiences a reduction in state funding that directly leads to a reduction in enrollment capacity. This bill would instead authorize the board to reduce the continuing approval fees in the above-described circumstances for a program that experiences a reduction in enrollment capacity that directly leads to a reduction in state funding.
AB 1060(Ortega D)- Health care coverage: naloxone hydrochloride.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
This bill would make legislative findings relating to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approving a certain naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray for nonprescription use. Under the bill, prescription or nonprescription naloxone hydrochloride or another drug approved by the FDA for the complete or partial reversal of an opioid overdose would be a covered benefit under the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that provides coverage for prescription drugs and that is issued, amended, delivered, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, to cover prescription and nonprescription naloxone hydrochloride and all other drugs or products approved by the FDA for the complete or partial reversal of an opioid overdose. The bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that provides coverage for prescription drugs from imposing any cost-sharing requirements for that coverage exceeding $10 per package of medication, as specified, would require point-of-sale coverage for over-the-counter, FDA-approved naloxone hydrochloride at in-network pharmacies, and would prohibit a high deductible health plan from imposing cost sharing, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2030.
AB 1166(Bains D)-Liability for opioid antagonist administration.
Status: Signed into Law.
This bill would provide that a person who, in good faith and not for compensation, renders emergency treatment at the scene of an opioid overdose or suspected opioid overdose by administering an opioid antagonist, as defined, is not liable for civil damages resulting from an act or omission, except as specified. The bill would also provide that a person who furnishes an opioid antagonist for use at the scene of an opioid overdose or suspected opioid overdose is not liable for civil damages resulting from an act or omission, except as specified.
AB 1451(Jackson D)-Urgent and emergency mental health and substance use disorder treatment.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
Would require a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, renewed, or delivered on or after January 1, 2024, to provide coverage for treatment of urgent and emergency mental health and substance use disorders. The bill would require the treatment to be provided without preauthorization, and to be reimbursed in a timely manner, pursuant to specified provisions. The bill’s provisions would only be implemented upon appropriation by the Legislature for administrative costs of the departments. The bill would clarify that it would not relieve a health plan or insurer of existing obligations, as specified. Because a violation of the bill’s requirements by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
SB 19(Seyarto R)- Fentanyl Misuse and Overdose Prevention Task Force.
Status: Signed into Law.
This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, establish the Fentanyl Misuse and Overdose Prevention Task Force to undertake various duties relating to fentanyl misuse including, among others, collecting and organizing data on the nature and extent of fentanyl misuse in California and evaluating approaches to increase public awareness of fentanyl misuse. The bill would require the task force to be co-chaired by the Attorney General and the State Public Health Officer or their designees, and would specify the membership of the task force. The bill would require the first meeting of the task force to take place no later than June 1, 2024, and would require the task force to meet at least once every 2 months. The bill would require the task force to submit an interim report on its findings and recommendations to the Attorney General, the Governor, and the Legislature by July 1, 2025, and submit a final report by December 1, 2025. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2026.
SB 234(Portantino D)-Opioid antagonists: stadiums, concert venues, and amusement parks.
Status: Signed into Law.
This bill would require each stadium, concert venue, and amusement park to maintain unexpired doses of naloxone hydrochloride or any other opioid antagonist on its premises at all times, and to ensure that at least 2 employees are aware of the location of the naloxone hydrochloride or other opioid antagonist. The bill would exempt from civil or criminal liability a person who, in good faith,
administers naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist by nasal spray or auto-injector on the premises of a stadium, concert venue, or amusement park, other than an act or omission constituting gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct, except as specified. The bill would exempt from civil or criminal liability a stadium, concert venue, or amusement park, or its employees, or an entity that owns, occupies, or operates a stadium, concert venue, or amusement park, or its employees, for the administration of naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist, or the failure to administer naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist, on the premises of the stadium, concert venue, or amusement park, as provided.
Mental Health
AB 665(Carrillo, Wendy D)-Minors: consent to mental health services.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law, for some purposes, authorizes a minor who is 12 years of age or older to consent to mental health treatment or counseling on an outpatient basis, or to residential shelter services, if the minor is mature enough to participate intelligently in the outpatient services or residential shelter services, as specified, and either the minor would present a danger of serious physical or mental harm to themselves or to others or if the minor is the alleged victim of incest or child abuse. For other purposes, current law authorizes a minor who is 12 years of age or older to consent to mental health treatment or counseling services if the minor is mature enough to participate intelligently in the outpatient services or counseling services. This bill would align the existing laws by removing the additional requirement that, in order to consent to mental health treatment or counseling on an outpatient basis, or to residential shelter services, the minor must present a danger of serious physical or mental harm to themselves or to others, or be the alleged victim of incest or child abuse.
AB 1288(Rendon D)- Health care coverage: Medication-assisted treatment.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
This bill would prohibit a medical service plan and a health insurer from subjecting a naloxone product, or another opioid antagonist approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, a buprenorphine product, methadone, or long-acting injectable naltrexone for detoxification or maintenance treatment of a substance use disorder to prior authorization or step therapy. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Administrative Burden
AB 931(Irwin D)- Prior authorization: physical therapy.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
This bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, that provides coverage for physical therapy from imposing prior authorization for the initial 12 treatment visits for a new episode of care for physical therapy. The bill would require a physical therapy provider to verify an enrollee’s or an insured’s coverage and disclose their share of the cost of care, as specified. The bill would require a physical therapy provider to obtain separate written consent for costs that may not be covered by the enrollee’s or insured’s plan contract or policy, that includes a written estimate of the cost of care for which the enrollee or insured is responsible if coverage is denied or otherwise not applicable. With respect to health care service plans, the bill would specify that its provisions do not apply to Medi-Cal managed care plan contracts. Because a willful violation of this provision by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
SCOPE
SB 385(Atkins D)- Physician Assistant Practice Act: abortion by aspiration: training.
Status: Signed into Law.
The Physician Assistant Practice Act establishes the Physician Assistant Board to license and regulate physician assistants. Current law makes it a crime to perform an abortion without holding a license to practice as a physician and surgeon or holding a specified license or certificate under the Physician Assistant Practice Act that authorizes the holder to perform specified functions necessary for an abortion. The act requires a physician assistant to complete training and comply with certain protocols, as specified, to receive authority from the physician assistant’s supervising physician and surgeon to perform an abortion by aspiration techniques. This bill would revise the training requirements to instead require a physician assistant to achieve clinical competency by successfully completing requisite training, as described, in performing an abortion by aspiration techniques.
Licensing
AB 470(Valencia D) Continuing medical education: physicians and surgeons.
Status: Signed into Law.
Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons. Existing law requires the board to adopt and administer standards for the continuing education of physicians and surgeons. This bill would update continuing medical education (CME) standards to further promote cultural and linguistic competency and enhance the quality of physician-patient communication.
AB 1646(Nguyen, Stephanie D)- Physicians and surgeons: postgraduate training: guest rotations.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law prohibits a postgraduate training licensee, intern, resident, postdoctoral fellow, or instructor from engaging in the practice of medicine, or receiving compensation for that practice, unless they hold a valid, unrevoked, and unsuspended physician's and surgeon's certificate issued by
the board, except as provided. Among those exceptions, current law authorizes a graduate of a board approved school to engage in and receive compensation for the practice of medicine as a part of a postgraduate training program if, among other requirements, the graduate obtains a postgraduate training license, as provided. Current law also authorizes a graduate who has completed the first year of postgraduate training, in an approved residency or fellowship, to engage in the practice of medicine as part of that residency or fellowship, and to receive compensation for that practice. If the resident or fellow fails to receive a license to practice medicine within 27 months from the commencement of the residency or fellowship, except as otherwise specified, or if the board denies their application for licensure, these privileges and exemptions automatically cease. Under an current regulation adopted by the board, all approved postgraduate training for which the applicant received credit counts toward the exemption period described above, including any training obtained within or outside of California, whether a full or partial year of training and regardless of whether the postgraduate training program was successfully completed. As an exception to that regulation, a board-approved medical school graduate who is engaged in approved postgraduate training outside of California is authorized to participate in guest rotations in an approved postgraduate training program in California, not to exceed a total of 90 days for all rotations. Under this bill, a board approved medical school graduate who is engaged in an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited postgraduate training program outside of California, would similarly be authorized, as a participant in guest rotations in an approved postgraduate training program in California or a participating training site affiliated with an ACGME-accredited program, to engage in the practice of medicine as part of that training program, not to exceed a total of 90 days for all rotations, and to receive compensation for that practice without obtaining a postgraduate training license.
COVID19 and Other Vaccines
AB 659(Aguiar-Curry D) Cancer Prevention Act.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law prohibits the governing authority of a school or other institution from unconditionally admitting any person as a pupil of any private or public elementary or secondary school, childcare center, day nursery, nursery school, family daycare home, or development center, unless prior to their admission to that institution they have been fully immunized. Current law requires the documentation of immunizations for certain diseases, including, among others, measles, mumps, pertussis, and any other disease deemed appropriate by the State Department of Public Health, as specified. Current law authorizes certain exemptions from these provisions subject to specified conditions. This bill, the Cancer Prevention Act, would declare that pupils in the state are advised to adhere to current immunization guidelines, as recommended by specified health entities, regarding full human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization before admission or advancement to the 8th grade level of any private or public elementary or secondary school. The bill would, upon a pupil's admission or advancement to the 6th grade level, require the governing authority to submit to the pupil and their parent or guardian a notification containing a statement about that public policy and advising that the pupil adhere to current HPV immunization guidelines before admission or advancement to the 8th grade level, as specified. The bill would require that the notification also include a statement containing certain health information.
Data Sharing/Reporting
AB 1740( Sanchez R)- Human trafficking: notice: pediatric care facilities.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law requires specified businesses and other establishments, including, among others, airports, intercity passenger rail or light rail stations, bus stations, and truck stops, to post a notice, as developed by the Department of Justice, that contains information relating to slavery and human trafficking, including information regarding specified nonprofit organizations that a person can call for services or support in the elimination of slavery and human trafficking. Current law makes a business or establishment that fails to comply with the requirements of these provisions liable for a civil penalty of $500 for a first offense, and $1,000 for each subsequent offense. This bill would additionally require that notice to be posted by facilities that provide pediatric care, as defined.
SB 582(Becker D)- Health information.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
The Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Current law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Current law requires health care service plans and health insurers to establish and maintain specified application programming interfaces (API), including patient access API, to facilitate patient and provider access to health information and for the benefit of enrollees, insureds, and contracted providers. Current law authorizes the departments to require a plan or insurer to establish and maintain specified API, including provider access API. This bill would instead require the departments to require the plans and insurers to establish and maintain these specified API. The bill would exclude from the requirements of these provisions dental, or vision benefits offered by a plan or insurer, including a specialized plan or insurer.
Misc Public Health
AB 935(Connolly D)-Tobacco sales: flavored tobacco ban.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law prohibits a tobacco retailer, or any of the tobacco retailer’s agents or employees, from selling, offering for sale, or possessing with the intent to sell or offer for sale, a flavored tobacco product or a tobacco product flavor enhancer, as those terms are defined, except as specified. Under existing law, a violation of this prohibition is punishable as an infraction. This bill would provide for the enforcement of these provisions in a manner similar to the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act, and, instead of an infraction, make the provisions of the flavored tobacco ban punishable by civil penalties in the same manner as the STAKE Act, as specified.
AB 1057(Weber D)- California Home Visiting Program.
Status: Vetoed by the Governor. See the Governor’s Veto Message here.
This bill would establish within the Health and Safety Code the California Home Visiting Program, a voluntary maternal, infant, and early childhood program originally created administratively under which the State Department of Public Health provides funds to local health departments to support pregnant people and parents with young children who live in communities that face greater risks and barriers to achieving positive maternal and child health outcomes, as provided.
AB 1598(Berman D)-Gun violence: firearm safety education.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law states that the state has a compelling interest in protecting its citizens from gun violence and from intimidation by persons brandishing weapons. Current law generally regulates the manufacture, distribution, transportation, and importation of specified firearms. Current law requires persons who obtain firearms to have familiarity with those firearms, including the safe handling and storage of firearms. Current law requires a purchaser or receiver of a firearm to hold a valid firearm safety certificate. Current law requires the Department of Justice to prescribe a minimum level of skill, knowledge, and competency to be required of all firearm safety certificate instructors, authorizes those instructors to issue firearm safety certificates to persons over 18 years of age, and requires the department to develop a test that a person is required to pass in order to earn a firearm safety certificate. Current law allows a firearm safety certificate instructor to collect a fee of $25 for administering the test and issuing the firearm safety certificate, $15 of which is to be paid to the department to cover the department’s costs to carry out and enforce specified laws. This bill would require the department, at the next regularly scheduled update of the test, to update the items the test covers to include the reasons for and risks of owning a firearm and bringing a firearm into the home, including the increased risk of death to someone in the household by suicide, homicide, or unintentional injury, and current law as it relates to eligibility to own or possess a firearm, gun violence restraining orders, domestic violence restraining orders, and privately manufactured firearms.
SB 2(Portantino D)- Firearms.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law prohibits a person from carrying a concealed firearm or carrying a loaded firearm in public. Current law authorizes a licensing authority, as specified, if good cause exists for the issuance, and subject to certain other criteria including, among other things, the applicant is of good moral character and has completed a specified course of training, to issue a license to carry a concealed handgun or to carry a loaded and exposed handgun, as specified. Under current law, the required course of training for an applicant is no more than 16 hours and covers firearm safety and laws regarding the permissible use of a firearm. This bill would require the licensing authority to issue or renew a license if the applicant is not a disqualified person for the license and the applicant is at least 21 years of age. The bill would remove the good character and good cause requirements from the issuance criteria. Under the bill, the applicant would be a disqualified person if they, among other things, are reasonably likely to be a danger to self, others, or the community at large, as specified. This bill would add the requirement that the applicant be the recorded owner, with the Department of Justice, of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person. This bill would change the training requirement to be no less than 16 hours in length and would add additional subjects to the course including, among other things, the safe storage and legal transportation of firearms. The bill would require an issuing authority, prior to that issuance, renewal, or amendment to a license, if it has direct access to the designated department system to determine if the applicant is the recorded owner of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm.
SB 348(Skinner D)- Pupil meals.
Status: Signed into Law.
This bill would revise and recast provisions regarding school meals for needy pupils by, among other things, instead requiring each school district, county superintendent of schools, and charter school to make available a nutritionally adequate breakfast, as defined, and a nutritionally adequate lunch, as defined, free of charge during each school day, as defined, to any pupil who requests a meal, without consideration of the pupil’s eligibility for a federally funded free or reduced-price meal, as provided. The bill would require each school district, county office of education, or charter school that offers independent study to meet the above meal requirements for any pupil on any school day that the pupil is scheduled for educational activities, as provided. The bill would require the State Department of Education to submit a waiver request to the United States Department of Agriculture to allow for one meal to be provided during a school day lasting 4 hours or less to be served in a noncongregate manner. The bill would authorize each school district, county superintendent of schools, and charter school to make available either a nutritionally adequate breakfast or a nutritionally adequate lunch, as defined, in a noncongregate manner, as provided, if the State Department of Education receives approval for the federal noncongregate waiver. The bill would require each school district, county superintendent of schools, and charter school to provide pupils with adequate time to eat, as determined by that school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school in consideration of the recommendations provided by the department. The bill would also require a chartering authority, among other things, to provide technical assistance to a charter school to meet these meal requirements, as provided. If the federal School Breakfast Program and federal National School Lunch Program allow more added sugar or sodium than is recommended by the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as described, the bill would require the department to convene representatives from specified entities to work in partnership to provide maximum daily added sugar and sodium intake recommendations for each grade level, as provided.
SB 540(Laird D)-Cannabis and cannabis products: health warnings.
Status: Signed into Law.
The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities, including retail commercial cannabis activity, under the jurisdiction of the Department of Cannabis Control. This bill would, on or before July 1, 2025, require the department to reevaluate regulations for the above-described warnings to determine whether any additional warnings are necessary to reflect evolving science, and would require the department to adopt regulations for cannabis and cannabis product labels or inserts reflecting the evolving science regarding the risks that cannabis use may cause consumers. The bill would, on or before January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, require the department to reevaluate the adopted regulations to determine whether the requirements reflect the state of the evolving science on cannabis health effects and on effective communication of health warnings.
JEDI
AB 1163(Rivas, Luz D)-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Disparities Reduction Act.
Status: Signed into Law.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Disparities Reduction Act requires prescribed state entities, including the State Department of Health Care Services and the Civil Rights Department, in the course of collecting demographic data directly or by contract as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians, to collect voluntary self-identification information pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity, except as specified. Current law prohibits these state entities from reporting demographic data that would permit identification of individuals or would result in statistical unreliability and limits the use of the collected data by those entities, as specified. Current law requires these state entities to report to the Legislature specified information related to the data and make the data available to the public, except for personally identifiable information, which existing law deems confidential and prohibits disclosure of that information. This bill would add intersexuality to the voluntary self-identification information to be collected, would apply these provisions to additional state entities, and would require these state entities to comply with these provisions as early as possible following January 1, 2025, but no later than July 1, 2026.
SB 372(Menjivar D)-Department of Consumer Affairs: licensee and registrant records: name and gender changes.
Status: Signed into Law.
This bill would require a board within the Department of Consumer Affairs to update a licensee's or registrant's license or registration by replacing references to the former name or gender on the license or registration, as specified, if the board receives documentation, as described, from the licensee or registrant demonstrating that the licensee or registrant's legal name or gender has been changed. If the board operates an online license verification system, the bill would require the board to replace references to the licensee's or registrant's former name or gender with the individual's current name or gender, as applicable, on the publicly viewable information displayed on the internet. The bill would prohibit a board from publishing the licensee's or registrant's former name or gender online. Instead, the bill would require the board to post an online statement directing the public to contact the board for more information. For specified licensees or registrants, the board would be prohibited from posting enforcement records online, but would be required to post an online statement stating that the individual was previously subject to an enforcement action and directing the public to contact the board, as prescribed.
SB 760(Newman D)-School facilities: all-gender restrooms.
Status: Signed into Law.
Current law requires every restroom of every public and private school maintaining any combination of classes from kindergarten to grade 12, inclusive, to be maintained and cleaned regularly, fully operational, and stocked at all times with toilet paper, soap, and paper towels or functional hand dryers, and kept open during school hours when pupils are not in classes. Current law requires that a sufficient number of restrooms be kept open during school hours when pupils are in classes. Current law authorizes a school to temporarily close a restroom as necessary for pupil safety or as necessary to repair the facility. This bill would revise the conditions under which a restroom is authorized to be temporarily closed to instead be as necessary (1) for a documented pupil safety concern, (2) for an immediate threat to pupil safety, or (3) to repair the facility. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2026, each school district, county office of education, and charter school, including charter schools operating in a school district facility, maintaining any combination of classes from grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide and maintain at least one all-gender restroom for voluntary pupil use at each of its schoolsites that meet specified criteria. The bill would require the all-gender restroom to meet certain requirements, including, among other things, that it has signage identifying the bathroom facility as being open to all genders and is unlocked, unobstructed, and easily accessible by any pupil.
