2021-2022

CHBRP generally analyzes introduced bills prior to their first Senate or Assembly Health Committee hearing. Completed CHBRP analyses (and the analyzed bill language) are available at http://chbrp.org/analysis/completed-analyses. As bills move through the Legislature, bills may be significantly amended, which may alter CHBRP’s projected impacts. The table, below, indicates the final version of each analyzed bill and the extent to which CHBRP’s analyses remain relevant. Final bill language and the bill status are available at http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/.

CHBRP’s analyses may still be of use after the legislative cycle concludes in order to inform future legislation, the implementation of analyzed legislation that is signed into law or included in California’s budget, and the ongoing evaluation of relevant health benefit mandates and repeals.

Bill Number Bill Author Bill Title Current location Bill amended since CHBRP analysis? Which portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant?
AB 32 Aguiar-Curry
(Aguiar-Curry) Telehealth
 Approved by the Governor Yes For federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health centers (RHCs), amendments would allow telephone only visits to be reimbursed at rates lower than live video or in-person visits. CHBRP had assumed equivalency, so expenditure, utilization, and health impacts could be less than projected. Other portions of the report remain relevant, as written.
AB 97 Nazarian
(Nazarian) Insulin Affordability
 Died in Senate Appropriations Committee Yes All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
AB 114 Maienschein
(Maienschein) Medi-Cal Benefits: Rapid Whole Genome Sequencing
 Died in Senate Health Committee Yes All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
AB 570 Santiago
(Santiago) Dependent Parent Health Care Coverage
 Approved by the Governor Yes The amended language would significantly reduce the fiscal impact projected in CHBRP’s earlier version of AB 570. The amended language now limits the expanded definition of an eligible dependent to individual plan contracts or health insurance policies, whereas before both group and individual plans or policies would be impacted by AB 570.
AB 933 Daly
(Daly) Prescription Drug Cost Sharing
 Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee Yes All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
AB 935 Maienschein
(Maienschein) Telehealth: Mental Health
 Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee Yes Bill amended to specifically include Medi-Cal managed care plans. However, CHBRP had already interpreted the bill in its original form to include Medi-Cal managed care plans. All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
AB 1254 Gipson
(Gipson) Mobile Stroke Units
 Died in Assembly Health Committee No All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
AB 1400 Kalra
(Kalra) Guaranteed Health Care for All
 Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee No CHBRP completed a follow-up limited analysis in January 2022 of a few specified scenarios. All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
AB 1859 Levine
(Levine) Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment
 Vetoed by the Governor Yes Final version of the bill includes amended language that adds substance use disorder treatment and specifies that health plans and insurers that cover mental health services approve provision of medically necessary treatment for a mental health or substance use disorder. It requires these plans and insurers to process a referral for a voluntary follow-up appointment after an involuntary hold as a request for an appointment and to offer an appointment that meets geographic and timely access standards. The referring facility is required to provide plans and insurers notification of a referral within 48 hours of the referral being made. All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant to the aspects of the bill related to coverage of mental health services after discharge from an involuntary hold.
AB 1930 Arambula
(Arambula) Medi-Cal: Comprehensive Perinatal Services
 Vetoed by the Governor Yes All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
AB 2024 Friedman
(Friedman) Breast Imaging
 Died in Senate Appropriations Committee Yes Final version of the bill includes amended language that would allow cost sharing for high deductible health plan/policy (HDHP) enrollees who have not yet met the year’s deductible. HDHPs include an annual deductible of $1,400 or more per year. CHBRP’s fiscal and public health analysis remains directionally correct. However, if the amended language would be relevant for all enrollees in HDHPs, impacts could be lower for 22% of commercial enrollees. If the amended language would be relevant only for enrollees in HDHPs associated with health savings accounts (HSAs), impacts would be lower for 6% of commercial enrollees. All other portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant. The amended language also adds an Insurance Code reference to self-insured employee welfare benefit plans. As CDI does not regulate such plans, the impact of the addition is unclear.
AB 2029 Wicks
(Wicks) Health Care Coverage: Treatment for Infertility
 Died in Assembly Health Committee Yes Final version of the bill includes amended language that requires coverage of infertility treatments for the large group market and requires insurers to offer coverage to small group plans and policies. Additional amendments limit the number of completed oocyte retrievals to three and provide a lifetime benefit maximum of $75,000. CHBRP’s fiscal and public health analysis remains directionally correct, although the magnitude would be smaller. All other portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
AB 2516 Aguiar-Curry
(Aguiar-Curry) Health Care Coverage: Human Papillomavirus
 Vetoed by the Governor Yes All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
AB 2585 McCarty
(McCarty) Health Care Coverage: Nonpharmacological Pain Management Treatment
 Approved by the Governor Yes Final version of the bill amends the bill to only make findings and declarations related to the state Pain Patient’s Bill of Rights, including that the health care system should encourage the use of evidence-based nonpharmacological therapies for pain management. The Background and Medical Effectiveness sections of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
AB 2709 Boerner Horvath
(Boerner Horvath) Emergency Ground Medical Transportation
 Died in Assembly Health Committee No All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
SB 110 Wiener
(Wiener) Substance Use Disorder Services: Contingency Management Services
 Vetoed by the Governor Yes All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant to the portion of the bill addressing contingency management. The amended language defines contingency management as an “optional benefit” which continues a level of uncertainty in projecting how many persons would use the benefit.
SB 245 Gonzalez
(Gonzalez) Abortion Services: Cost Sharing
 Approved by the Governor Yes Final version expands the types of plans/policies subject to the bill and limits the utilization management prohibition to outpatient abortion services. These amendments would likely result in changes to utilization of abortion services and changes to expenditure impacts, although the degree is unknown. All other portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
SB 306 Pan
(Pan) Health Care: STD Testing
 Approved by the Governor Yes The amended language exempts from compliance the benefit coverage of Medi-Cal beneficiaries enrolled in DMHC-regulated plans. The exemption would eliminate the projected cost impacts for Medi-Cal. The exemption would also reduce, by about 70%, projected total increases in testing and treatment as well as expected long-term health improvements from treated STDs and reduced STD transmission. The amended language also differentiates between commercial plans and policies regulated by DMHC or CDI, making the requirements only in effect for the former when an in-network clinician is involved. The specification would reduce impacts among commercial enrollees in DMHC-regulated plans.
SB 428 Hurtado
(Hurtado) Adverse Childhood Experiences Screenings
 Approved by the Governor Yes All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant. The final language requires plans/policies that already cover pediatric services and preventive care to now include coverage for ACEs screenings (instead of requiring all plans/policies to cover screenings). The amendment would also not prohibit plans/policies from applying cost-sharing requirements, and would not prohibit plans/policies from exceeding Medi-Cal's rules and regulations for trauma screening (however, Medi-Cal's rules and regulations must serve as the minimum ACEs coverage requirements). These provisions should not materially affect CHBRP’s projections.
SB 473 Bates
(Bates) Insulin Cost Sharing
Died in Assembly Health Committee No CHBRP completed an updated analyses in January 2022 of amended bill language. All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
SB 510 Pan
(Pan) COVID-19 Cost Sharing
 Approved by the Governor Yes The amended language specifies coverage for screening tests (inclusive of tests for students, workers, and travelers) and makes retroactive the cost sharing and utilization management prohibitions for coverage of testing and immunization. The amendments could result in increased utilization and premiums. As the scale of such impacts are unknown, impacts on health outcomes are also unknown.
SB 523 Leyva
(Leyva) Contraceptives
 Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee Yes The July 8th amendments require coverage for hysterectomies and other similar sterilization techniques, in addition to voluntary tubal ligations. The bill now also prohibits health plans and policies from requiring prior authorization on vasectomy services and procedures. The May 3rd amendments require coverage without cost sharing for over-the-counter (OTC) birth control methods obtained at in-network pharmacies; the mandate no longer applies to out-of-network pharmacies or retailers. The May 3rd amendments also remove the authority for health plans and policies to establish frequency and quantity limits for coverage of contraceptive methods. OTC birth control methods are now limited to those included as essential health benefits. The bill now explicitly mandates coverage without cost sharing for vasectomies, with an exemption for grandfathered and health savings account (HSA)-eligible plans and policies. CHBRP had already interpreted the bill to require coverage for vasectomies and assumed that grandfathered and HSA-eligible plans and policies would continue to have cost sharing postmandate. All cost estimates were based on expected utilization rather than frequency or quantity limits. Thus, these portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant. However, CHBRP’s analysis only includes the impacts of coverage for tubal ligations, not hysterectomies or other sterilization services. Coverage of other female sterilization services may impact cost offsets for female sterilization services depending on their impact on use of vasectomy services.
SB 535 Limón
(Limón) Biomarker Testing
 Approved by the Governor Yes Bill amended to require compliant benefit coverage for Medi-Cal beneficiaries in DMHC-regulated plans. CHBRP’s fiscal estimates are relevant for enrollees with commercial and CalPERS coverage, though the amendment would likely result in additional expenditures related to the Medi-Cal beneficiaries. All other portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant as written.
SB 562 Portantino
(Portantino) Pervasive Developmental Disorders or Autism
 Vetoed by the Governor Yes All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
SB 568 Pan
(Pan) Deductibles: Chronic Disease Management
 Died in Assembly Health Committee Yes All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
SB 613 Limón
(Limón) Maternal Health: Neonate Medical Wrap
 Died in Senate Health Committee No All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
SB 853 Wiener
(Wiener) Prescription Drug Coverage
 Died in Assembly Health Committee Yes Final version of the bill includes amended language that would somewhat reduce impacts on cost sharing and somewhat increase impacts on premiums for enrollees in DMHC-regulated health plans and CDI-regulated health policies. Amended language regarding coverage for persons engaged with other CDI-regulated disability insurance is beyond the scope of CHBRP’s analysis.
SB 858 Wiener
(Wiener) Health Care Service Plans: Discipline: Civil Penalties
Approved by the Governor Yes Final version of the bill includes amended language that would limit the maximum amount of a civil penalty per violation and increase the current amount per violation of specific administrative penalties. Directionally, CHBRP’s projected fiscal impacts remain valid and all other portions of the analysis remain relevant.
SB 912 Limon
(Limón) Biomarker Testing
 Vetoed by the Governor Yes All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
SB 974 Portantino
(Portantino) Breast Imaging
 Vetoed by the Governor Yes Final version of the bill includes amended language specifying that (1) for enrollees in high deductible health plans (HDHPs), cost sharing prohibitions apply only after the deductible is met and (2) for all enrollees, cost sharing is generally allowed for out-of-network providers. CHBRP’s fiscal and public health analysis remains directionally correct, as relevant services are most commonly accessed through in-network providers, though impacts on utilization and cost sharing could be somewhat lower, as impacts for enrollees in HDHPs would be less. All other portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
SB 1191 Bates
(Bates) Medi-Cal: Pharmacogenomic Testing
 Vetoed by the Governor Yes Final version of the bill includes amended language that adds a stipulation that funds must be appropriated by the Legislature for the provisions to go into effect. All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
SB 1337 McGuire
(McGuire) Coordinated Specialty Care Services for First-Episode Psychosis
 Died in Senate Appropriations Committee Yes All portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant.
SB 1338 Umberg and Eggman
(Umberg and Eggman) Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program
 Approved by the Governor Yes All portions of CHBRP’s limited analysis of specific aspects of the bill remain relevant. The implementation dates of the bill have been amended, delaying expenditures but not materially changing CHBRP’s projections.
SB 1473 Pan
(Pan) COVID-19 Therapeutics
 Approved by the Governor Yes CHBRP’s limited analysis considers only aspects of the bill pertaining to coverage of COVID-19 therapeutics. Amended language would make those requirements applicable to the coverage of Medi-Cal beneficiaries enrolled in DMHC-regulated plans. CHBRP’s informative example remains directionally correct, though impacts on utilization could be somewhat higher.
Bill Number Bill Author Bill Title Current location Amended Which portions of CHBRP’s analysis remain relevant?