Nonquantitative treatment limitations.

The bill now amends Section 1374.76 of the Health and Safety Code and Section 10144.4 of the Insurance Code in addition to adding new sections, rather than only adding new standalone sections.

Coverage is explicitly broadened to include 'individual, small group, or large group health care service plan and disability contract or health insurance policy,' replacing the prior reference to 'every health care service plan and disability insurance policy.'

A new requirement mandates that covered contracts and policies provide mental health and substance use disorder benefits in compliance with federal rules, regulations, and guidance as they existed on January 1, 2025, effectively freezing the federal parity regulatory baseline at that date.

The departments (Department of Insurance and Department of Managed Health Care) are now required to review provisions of the bill that conflict with or materially differ from federal regulations and collaborate to issue guidance on compliance.

The deadline for plans to submit NQTL comparative analyses to the departments was changed from 'by January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter' to 'upon request,' eliminating the recurring annual submission obligation.

Health care service plans are no longer required to proactively submit comparative analyses to the department each year. Instead, they must submit them 'upon request in the manner required by this section.' This shifts the burden from the plan to the regulator to initiate the review process.

A new subsection (h) was added requiring the Department of Managed Health Care, in collaboration with the Department of Insurance, to review provisions that conflict with or materially differ from federal regulations and issue guidance to health care service plans on compliance. The department's review and guidance does not affect the enforceability of any provision of the section.

Assembly Members Patel and Pellerin were added as coauthors, indicating broader legislative support for the bill in the Senate version.

The full text of the bill (all sections, definitions, requirements, and findings) was removed from the document.

A standard enrollment page was added containing only the bill number (AB 2011), the date it passed the Assembly (August 24, 2026), the date it passed the Senate (August 20, 2026), and the Chief Clerk of the Assembly certification.