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Legislation
Bills of interest to health care consumer advocates from the 2010 legislative session
Health Access California sponsors, advocates for, and tracks health consumer legislation in Sacramento. To see a fact sheet outlining our current position on the health care legislation we are following, click here: 2010 Pending Legislation Impacting California Health Care Consumers. (Updated - July 13, 2010)
To read the complete text of any bill including amendments, please visit the California Legislature Bill Information website to lookup information by bill number, author, or keywords.
2010 Session Health Consumer Bills:
(AB = Assembly Bill; SB = Senate Bill)
 = Support |
 = Don't Support |
 = Stalled |
 = Watching |
SB 810 (Leno): CALIFORNIA HEALTHCARE SYSTEM - Would establish the California Healthcare System, a single-payer health care system in the state that would enable all residents to obtain health coverage.
AB 1602 (Bass): CALIFORNIA PATIENT PROTECTION & AFFORDABLE HEALTH CHOICES - Would create the California Cooperative Health Insurance Purchasing Exchange (Cal-CHIPE) and expand dependent coverage in private insurance to age 26. SB 900 (Alquist): CALIFORNIA HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGE - Would establish the California Health Insurance Exchange within the California Health and Human Services Agency to make health coverage available and create the California Health Insurance Exchange Fund to be governed by a board appointed by the Legislature. SB 890 (Alquist): IMPLEMENTING FEDERAL HEALTH REFORM - Creates rules in the individual market similar to those for Medi-Gap so that insurers cannot cherry-pick individuals based on health risk status. Sets standard of basic health care services for DOI products as well as DMHC products. AB 2287 (Monning): PREVENTION & WELLNESS (HAC Sponsor) - Would implement those elements of federal health reform that provide community transformation grants to promote wellness and prevention. These grants will fund evidence-based, community prevention activities to reduce chronic disease rates and address health disparities. AB 2345 (De La Torre): COVERING PREVENTIVE SERVICES - Requires insurers to eliminiate cost-sharing for some preventive services such as pap smears, mammograms, other cancer screenings, and immunizations; continues to permit co-pays and deductibles for managing chronic disease such as asthma, diabetes, health disease, etc.
SB 56 (Alquist): PUBLIC OPTION - Would authorize county-organized health plans and other health benefits programs to form joint ventures to create integrated networks of public health plans that pool risk and share networks, subject to Knox-Keene requirements. SB 1088 (Price): YOUNG ADULT COVERAGE -Would require group health plans to allow young adults to continue on coverage as a dependent up to age 26, however employers are not required to contribute to the cost of coverage for those dependents 23 or older. SB 838 (Strickland): CAL-COBRA EXTENSION - Would require Cal-COBRA health plans provide notice of the availability of an extension of premium assistance for qualified individuals who experience were involuntarily terminated from their job between January 1, 2010, and February 28, 2010 through the federal Department of Defense Appropriations Act. Signed by the Governor on June 3, 2010.
AB 342 (Perez) / SB 208 (Steinberg): MEDI-CAL WAIVER - The state's 1115 Medicaid Waiver would draw down up to $2 billion in federal funding to expand coverage to new medically indigent populations. The waiver would also move seniors and people with disabilities to Medi-Cal managed Care. The waiver is intended as a bridge between the existing Medi-Cal program and the full access expansion that will happen in 2014 as a result of federal reform. AB 2352 (Perez): ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION ANTI-REJECTION MEDICATION - Would allow a Medi-Cal beneficiary to remain eligible for coverage of anti-rejection medication for up to two years following an organ transplant, unless during that period the beneficiary becomes eligible for Medicare or private health insurance that would cover the medication. AB 2477 (Jones): CONTINUOUS ELIGIBILITY FOR CHILDREN - Removes the requirements for Mid-Year Status Reports for children to allow continuous eligibility for children in teh Medi-Cal program.
INDIVIDUAL INSURANCE MARKET REFORMS
AB 786 (Jones): INSURANCE MARKET STANDARDS (HAC Sponsor) - Sorts health insurance policies into a number of categories, based on benefit comprehensiveness and cost-sharing. Standardized plan categories and terminology enables consumers to better compare plans. SB 1163 (Leno): SUNSHINE ON PRICE GOUGING (HAC Sponsor) - Would require health plans to provide, in writing, specific reasons for denial of coverage or for charging higher than the standard rates. AB 2578 (Jones): RATE APPROVAL - Would require approval by the Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance of an increase in the amount of premium, copayment, coinsurance, deductible, or other charges under a health plan. AB 2110 (De La Torre): PREMIUM GRACE PERIODS (HAC Sponsor) - Would extend the grace period for premium payments from 10 or 31 days up to 50 days for most plans regulated by the Department of Insurance. AB 2042 (Feuer): ANNUAL RATE HIKES, ANNUAL CHANGES IN PRODUCT (HAC Sponsor) - Prohibits insurers and HMOs from increasing premiums, cost sharing, or benefits more often than once year. AB 2244 (Feuer): KIDS COVERAGE (HAC Sponsor) - Requires guaranteed issue, eliminates all pre-existing condition exclusions, and phases in modified community rating for children under age 19 in the individual market. AB 2470 (De La Torre): MEDICAL UNDERWRITING - Would require regulations to be created that establish standard information and health history questions used by health insurers on application forms, and requires insurers to complete medical underwriting and review for accuracy before issuing an individual a health plan contract or policy. AB 591 (De La Torre): RATE MORATORIUM - Protects consumers by (1) imposing a 90-day moratorium on rate increases above average increases in the medical care consumer price index; (2) allow such increases if plans apply to DMHC or CDI to justify such increases; and (3) prohibiting insurers from raising rates more than once per 12-month period.
AB 1825 (De La Torre): MATERNITY CARE - Would require most health plans to cover maternity services. AB 1600 (Beall): MENTAL HEALTH PARITY - Would require most health plans to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of a mental illness. SB 1104 (Cedillo): DIABETES DISEASE MANAGEMENT - Would require health plans to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes-related complications.
INSURANCE MARKET OVERSIGHT AND CONSUMER PROTECTIONS
AB 1521 (Jones): BROKER COMPENSATION (HAC Sponsor) - Would place limits on how health insurance brokers are compensated by insurers. AB 1759 (Blumenfield): PREMIUM RATE CHNAGES - Would prohibit health insurers from using a change in demographics or enrollment as the basis for a premium rate change during the length of a contract for group coverage. AB 1826 (Huffman): PAIN TREATMENT PRESCRIPTION DRUGS - Would prohibit an insurer from requiring a patient to use a pain treatment drug other than the one prescribed to them prior to authorizing the treatment prescribed by the health care provider.
PROVIDER OVERSIGHT AND CONSUMER PROTECTIONS
AB 1503 (Lieu): EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN FAIR PRICING (HAC Sponsor) - Would limit the amount that emergency room physicians and surgeons can charge an uninsured or underinsured patient with income below 350% of the federal poverty level. AB 1653 (Jones): HOSPITAL QUALITY ASSURANCE FEE - Would impose a "quality assurance fee" on all non-exempt general care hospitals as a condition of participation in state health programs, with the funds used to increase Medi-Cal reimbursements to hospitals and for children's coverage. AB 2787 (Monning): FEDERAL GRANTS FOR STATE OMBUDSMAN PROGRAMS - This bill would establish the Office of the California Health Ombudsman and require the ombudsman to, among other things, educate consumers on their rights and responsibilities with respect to health care coverage, assist consumers with enrollment in health care coverage, and resolve problems with obtaining specified premium tax credits. AB 2275 (Hayashi): DENTAL COVERAGE: An effort by dentists to prevent dental plans from offering discounts on services that are not covered by the dental plan. The bill lacks consumer input.
SB 227 (Alquist): FUNDING FOR MRMIP - Creates fee on insurers to support California's high-risk pool.
Signed by the Governor on June 30, 2010. AB 1887 (Villines): FEDERAL FUNDING FOR MRMIP - Would authorize MRMIB to apply for federal funding for the purpose of extending the MRMIP program to more applicants. Signed by the Governor on June 30, 2010.
PUBLIC HEALTH, PREVENTION, AND QUALITY
AB 1640 (Evans): BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING - Would express the intent of the Legislature that the demand for the breast and cervical cancer screening program for low-income women be met, and that at least 90-day notification be made to the Legislature before any change in eligibility requirements is made. SB 1200 (Leno): TIMELY SCHOOL-BASED CARE FOR CHILDREN - Would add timeliness of care for school-age children who must receive medically necessary services during school hours as one of the indicators of timeliness in the timely access to care standards adopted by the Department of Managed Health Care. AB 542 (Feuer): NO PAY FOR NEVER EVENTS - Creates a process for ending Medi-Cal payments for never events (events that should never happen, such as surgery on the wrong body part), and requires insurers to stop paying for never events.