Existing law, the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) , generally prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, or a contractor from disclosing medical information regarding a patient, enrollee, or subscriber without first obtaining an authorization, unless a specified exception applies. Existing law makes a violation of the CMIA that results in economic loss or personal injury to a patient punishable as a misdemeanor. Existing law requires 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. This bill would also require those specified businesses to enable the above-specified capabilities, policies, and procedures for those security features, as specified. Because the bill would expand the scope of an existing crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(1) Existing law establishes various grant and loan programs for research, including, among others, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, California Firefighter Cancer Prevention and Research Program, and the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Program. This bill would establish the California Foundation for Science and Health Research within the Government Operations Agency. The bill would require the Secretary of Government Operations to oversee the process of appointing the director of the foundation, and would authorize the Secretary of Government Operations to delegate the task of hiring and determining the salaries, bonuses, and benefits of additional personnel to the director, as specified. The bill would require the director and personnel of the foundation to be responsible for implementing the strategic objectives of the California Foundation for Science and Health Research Council, as described below, administering grants, loans, and contracts awarded by the council, and all other duties as deemed necessary for the operation of the foundation. This bill would create the California Foundation for Science and Health Research and Innovation Acceleration Fund and require the moneys in the fund to be used by the foundation to award grants and make loans to, and enter into contracts with, public or private research companies, universities, academic medical centers, institutes, and organizations for scientific research and development and for certain economic sectors, as specified, in specific areas of research, including, but not limited to, biomedical, behavioral health, and climate research. The bill would also create the California Foundation for Science and Health Research and Innovation Acceleration Benefit Fund, to consist solely of private donations. The bill would make the moneys in the benefit fund available for the same purposes as the California Foundation for Science and Health Research and Innovation Acceleration Fund. This bill would require that, prior to the first grant from the foundation and no later than one year from the date the bill takes effect, the council develop various provisions and requirements to facilitate the foundation's goals of affordability and equitable access. The foundation shall impose various requirements on the grantees, loan recipients, and contractors, as specified, including, among other things, developing strategies to promote equitable access to the subject invention in various specified communities and making the data resulting from the bond-funded research available to the broader scientific community, except in cases involving national security interests. The council shall also establish standards requiring that all grants, awards, and contracts be subject to intellectual property agreements that balance the opportunity for the State of California to benefit from the inventions, technologies, patents, royalties, and licenses that result from research funded by certain public and private grants, as specified. This bill would create the California Foundation for Science and Health Research Council, as specified, which shall be vested with full power, authority, and jurisdiction over the foundation. The bill would require the council to, among other things, develop the strategic objectives and priorities of the foundation and provide the opportunity for public comment on the foundation's priorities, as specified, determine the research projects that will be funded by the California Foundation for Science and Health Research and Innovation Acceleration Fund, develop objectives and opportunities that offer support to early career researchers, and adopt certain regulations and standards, as specified. The bill would also require the council to consider how the foundation's research priorities relate to or support various economic and industry considerations, as specified. The bill would provide that a majority of the members of the council constitutes a quorum for the transaction of any business, for the performance of any duty, or for the exercise of any power of the council, except as otherwise provided. The bill would authorize the council to establish one or more scientific peer review panels consisting of experts in specified fields of research for the purposes of reviewing and prioritizing proposals on the basis of the scientific merit of the proposal, the potential benefit to the health and well-being of the population, natural resources, and environment of the state, and the demonstrated background, training, and expertise of the researchers and investigators to conduct the proposed work. This bill would require all research and development funded by the California Foundation for Science and Health Research and Innovation Acceleration Fund to be conducted under established standards of open scientific exchange, peer review, and public oversight. The bill would require the funds and contracts to be awarded on the basis of the research priorities established for the foundation by the council and the scientific merit of the proposed research, as determined by an open, competitive, scientific peer review process that ensures objectivity, consistency, and high quality. This bill would enact the California Science and Health Research Bond Act, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $7,500,000,000, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, to finance grants and loans to fund research and operate and maintain facilities for research. The bill would provide for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the March 7, 2028, statewide primary election. (2) Existing law establishes prohibitions and penalties with respect to ethical obligations and conflicts of interest for public officials, including a prohibition on engaging in activities that are incompatible with their official duties and a prohibition on being financially interested in a contract made by them in their official capacity or the board of which they are a part. This bill would authorize a council member to participate in a decision to approve or award a grant, loan, or contract for the purpose of research into a disease in which the member or their immediate family member has a personal interest, as specified. The bill would provide that service with specified educational institutions and organizations is not incompatible with a council member's duties. The bill would provide that the prohibition on being financially interested in a contract, as specified, does not apply if the council member recuses themself from a decision to award or approve a grant, loan, or contract that would otherwise be subject to the prohibition. The bill would provide that council members are subject to certain disclosure requirements relating to personal investments and potential conflicts of interest, as specified. (3) Existing law, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, requires that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend any meeting of a state body, with specified exceptions for authorized closed sessions. This bill would require the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act to apply to all meetings of the council and scientific peer review panels, except as specified for when the council or scientific peer review panels meet to consider or discuss specified matters in closed sessions, including matters involving information relating to patients or medical or scientific research subjects, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law defines "sexual orientation change efforts" as practices by mental health providers that seek to change an individual's sexual orientation, as specified. Existing law prohibits a mental health provider, as defined, from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with a patient under 18 years of age, and provides that such efforts attempted by a mental health provider are considered unprofessional conduct and must subject the mental health provider to discipline by that provider's licensing entity. This bill would define "sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts" as any practices of a licensed mental health provider that seek, during the provision of mental health services, to direct a patient toward a predetermined sexual orientation or gender identity, as specified, and would apply the prohibitions described above to such efforts. The bill would exclude specified practices, including age-appropriate interventions to address unlawful conduct or unsafe practices that do not seek to direct the patient toward a particular sexual orientation or gender identity, from this definition.
Existing law generally provides for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for specified losses suffered as a result of those crimes. Existing law sets forth eligibility requirements and limits on the amount of compensation that the board may award, and requires the application for compensation to be verified under penalty of perjury. This bill would create a pilot program, the Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth Act (T.H.R.I.V.E.) , to be administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the administration of grants to the County of Los Angeles to establish and administer a program to pay for mental health and counseling services for youth survivors of gun violence, as defined, who request those services and who reside in that county. The bill would require policies and procedures for distributing funds to meet certain requirements, including, among other things, allowing youth survivors of gun violence, or their parents or guardians for survivors who are minors, to attest to their experiences of gun violence without requiring external documentation of the gun violence incident. The bill would create the Trauma Healing and Resilience Investment for Victimized and Exposed Youth Fund to be used by the department for the purposes of this program, upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would make client information and records of mental health services provided to these provisions confidential. The bill would make implementation of these provisions contingent upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2032. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law establishes the California Reproductive and TGI Health Equity Program within the Department of Health Care Access and Information for the purpose of ensuring abortion, contraception, and gender-affirming care are affordable for and accessible to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay, and to provide financial support for safety net providers of these services to offset the costs of providing uncompensated care to patients with low incomes who would otherwise lack access to care. Existing law authorizes a Medi-Cal enrolled provider to apply for a grant, and a continuation award after the initial grant, if they agree to provide abortion, contraception, and gender-affirming care services in accordance with specified requirements, including that the services are provided at no cost or a reduced cost to individuals with a household income at or below 400% of the federal poverty level who are uninsured or have health care coverage that does not include both abortion and contraception or does not include gender-affirming care and are not otherwise eligible to receive both abortion and contraception care at no cost through the Medi-Cal and Family PACT programs or receive gender-affirming care at no cost through the Medi-Cal program. This bill would additionally authorize a Medi-Cal enrolled provider to apply for a grant or a continuation of a grant if they provide the above-described services to patients who are veterans, as defined, who are uninsured or have health care coverage that does not include both abortion and contraception and are not otherwise eligible to receive both abortion and contraception care at no cost through the Medi-Cal and Family PACT programs. The bill would make other conforming changes and would make related findings and declarations. Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs and vests the department with specified duties related to veterans in the state, including the development of a transition program to assist veterans in successfully transitioning from military to civilian life by providing information related to, among other things, health care programs and services. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to publish a link to the State Department of Public Health's abortion information internet website on the women veterans resources page of its internet website.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is in part governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing federal law generally requires, commencing in 2027, Medicaid beneficiaries between 19 and 64 years of age, inclusive, with income up to 138% of the federal poverty level, commonly known as Medicaid expansion adults, to demonstrate community engagement as a condition of Medicaid eligibility. Existing state law sets forth various provisions to conform to that federal requirement. Existing law requires, no sooner than January 1, 2027, as specified, an applicable individual to demonstrate work or community engagement. Existing law sets forth the mechanisms for an applicable individual to comply with that requirement on a monthly basis, including, among others, a minimum of 80 hours of work, community service, or participation in a work program, or a minimum of half-time enrollment in an educational program. This bill would make changes to the definitions of "applicable individual," "work program," and "educational program," and to some of the compliance mechanisms regarding monthly income, for purposes of the above-described provisions. When there is a conflict in reliable data sources that adversely impacts the eligibility of an applicant or beneficiary, the bill would require the county to request the applicant or beneficiary to confirm information before taking any adverse action on the application or renewal. Existing law requires a county, if it is unable to verify that an applicable individual either has met the requirement to demonstrate work or community engagement or was deemed to have demonstrated work or community engagement, to provide the individual with a notice of noncompliance, as specified, and to continue to provide the individual with Medi-Cal services during a 30-calendar-day period if the individual is enrolled in the Medi-Cal program. This bill would require the county to notify applicable individuals enrolled in the Medi-Cal program of the requirement to demonstrate work or community engagement based on certain delivery formats. For an applicable individual renewing their Medi-Cal enrollment during a 6-month redetermination period and who otherwise meets all other eligibility criteria, the bill would require the county to maintain active eligibility pending verification of work or community engagement until at least the last day of the month of the 30-calendar-day period. Under the bill, an applicable individual would be deemed to have received the notice of noncompliance 5 days after the date on the notice. Under the bill, self-attestation that the individual did not receive a timely notice would constitute good cause for not providing a satisfactory showing within the 30-calendar-day period. If no satisfactory showing is made after the 30-calendar-day period, the bill would require the department to consider all other bases of eligibility for medical assistance under the Medi-Cal state plan prior to denying coverage at application or determining that an individual is ineligible. The bill would authorize the department to defer implementation of any of the above-described changes if the change would result in a fiscal impact that would require an additional appropriation and that additional appropriation has not been made, as specified. By creating new duties for counties relating to Medi-Cal eligibility determinations with regard to work or community engagement, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(1) Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to give diligent care to the health and physical development of pupils and authorizes the governing board of a school district to employ properly certified persons for this purpose. Existing law requires a school of a school district or county office of education and a charter school to notify pupils and parents or guardians of pupils no less than twice during the school year on how to initiate access to available pupil mental health services on campus or in the community, or both, as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, on or before June 1, 2025, to develop model referral protocols for addressing pupil behavioral health concerns, as provided. This bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2027, in consultation with appropriate stakeholders, to review and, as necessary, update the model referral protocols to include guidance on providing equity-centered mental health supports in case of a local emergency related to immigration enforcement activities or deportations of pupils or their family members. (2) Existing law requires the governing board or body of a local educational agency that serves pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, before January 31, 2026, to adopt a policy on referral protocols for addressing pupil behavioral health concerns in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, as provided. This bill would require those local educational agencies, on or before July 1, 2028, to review and, as necessary, update that policy to include guidance on providing equity-centered mental health supports in case of a local emergency related to immigration enforcement activities or deportations of pupils or their family members. The bill would authorize an updated policy to either be based on the updated model referral protocols developed by the department or developed in consultation with school and community stakeholders and school-linked behavioral health professionals, and would require the updated policy to, at a minimum, address procedures relating to referrals to behavioral health professionals and support services. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
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's requirements a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law prohibits a contract between a plan or insurer and a dentist from requiring a dentist to accept an amount set by the plan or insurer as payment for dental care services provided to an enrollee or insured that are not covered services under the enrollee's contract or the insured's policy. Existing law requires a plan or insurer to make specified disclosures to an enrollee or insured regarding noncovered dental services. Existing law requires a health care service plan or health insurer to comply with specified timely access requirements. Under existing law, a health care service plan is required to annually report to the Department of Managed Health Care on this compliance. Existing law authorizes the Department of Insurance to issue guidance to insurers regarding annual timely access and network reporting methodologies. This bill would require a plan or insurer, including a specialized plan or insurer, covering dental services, to pay a noncontracting dental provider, which includes a registered dental hygienist in alternative practice, directly for covered services rendered to the enrollee or insured in accordance with the benefit provided in the contract or policy when the noncontracting dental provider submits to the plan or insurer an assignment of benefits. The bill would require a noncontracting dental provider to obtain a signed and dated consent to collect an assignment of benefits from an enrollee or insured. The bill would prohibit a noncontracting dental provider collecting an enrollee's or insured's assignment of benefits from charging an enrollee or insured, prior to the plan or insurer payment, more than an estimate of the enrollee's or the insured's cost sharing for the treatment or a deposit that approximates that cost share. Because a willful violation of these provisions relative to health care service plans would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require a plan or insurer to certify, under penalty of perjury, that specified information submitted to its regulator regarding network adequacy is true and correct, thus creating a crime and imposing a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the Dental Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of dentists and dental assistants by the Dental Board of California and the licensure and regulation of dental hygienists by the Dental Hygiene Board of California, and defines unprofessional conduct by a licensee, including, among other things, the violation of any provision of the act. Existing law authorizes the respective board to discipline a licensee under the act by placing the licensee on probation under various specified terms and conditions. This bill would require a noncontracting dental provider, including a registered dental hygienist in alternative practice, to make specified disclosures to a patient before collecting the patient's signed and dated consent to an assignment of benefits. The bill would expand the definition of unprofessional conduct under the act to include the failure to comply with that disclosure requirement and the above-described prohibition relating to the charging of a patient more than an estimate of their cost sharing and the failure to maintain a signed and dated copy of the patient's consent. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act, authorizes the involuntary commitment and treatment of a person, when the person, as a result of a mental health disorder, is a danger to themselves or others, or is gravely disabled. Existing law grants persons involuntarily detained in state hospitals as a result of developmental or mental health disabilities specified rights, including a right to dignity, privacy, and humane care, to be free from harm, to religious freedom and practice, and to physical exercise and recreational opportunities. This bill, the Civil Detainees' Bill of Rights Act of 2026, would clarify that all persons housed or detained for purposes of civil immigration proceedings in California at any state, county, local, or private locked detention facility, including any county, local, or private locked detention facility in which an individual is housed or detained on behalf of, or pursuant to a contract with, the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement or the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have the legal rights and responsibilities guaranteed all other persons by the United States Constitution and federal law and the California Constitution and state law, unless specifically limited by federal or state law or regulations. The bill would grant persons housed or detained for the purposes of civil immigration proceedings in California certain rights, including a right to dignity, privacy, and humane care, a right to clean facilities and living quarters, and a right to safe and healthy food. The bill would reaffirm the intent of the Legislature that individuals housed or detained as a result of developmental or mental health disabilities have the rights described above. The bill would require the rights of individuals involuntarily housed as a result of developmental or mental health disabilities or civilly detained in California to be observed and protected by the operator of any facility in California in which the individuals are housed or civilly detained. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action for injunctive and other relief in order to protect any of the above-described rights, and would additionally authorize the Attorney General to seek a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each violation. The bill would require all necessary access for the observations necessary to ensure compliance with the above-described requirements to be provided to the Attorney General. The bill would make related findings and declarations. The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law, the California Healthy Youth Act, requires school districts, defined to include county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and charter schools, to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education, as specified. This bill would authorize the State Department of Education to monitor compliance with the requirements of the California Healthy Youth Act as part of its annual compliance monitoring of state and federal programs. (2) Existing law establishes the Office of School-Based Health Programs for the purpose of assisting local educational agencies regarding the current health-related programs under the purview of the State Department of Education including, among other duties, coordinating school health program activities with public health, social services, environmental, and local educational agencies, and other public and private entities. This bill would prohibit a local educational agency, as defined, from prohibiting school-based health centers, as defined, that serve schools of the local educational agency from making internal and external condoms available and easily accessible to pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, at the school-based health center site and would require a school of a local educational agency to allow condoms to be made available to pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, during the course of, or in connection with, educational or public health programs and initiatives, as provided. To the extent the bill imposes additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Under existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, the State Department of Public Health generally regulates the packaging, labeling, advertising, and sale of food, drugs, devices, and cosmetics, in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. A violation of those provisions is generally a crime. Existing law sets forth various other provisions relating to the furnishing and health care coverage of certain types of contraception. This bill would, with certain exceptions, prohibit a retail establishment, as defined, from refusing to furnish nonprescription contraception to a person solely on the basis of age by means of any conduct, including, but not limited to, requiring the customer to present identification for purposes of demonstrating their age. Under the bill, a violation of that prohibition would be exempt from the above-described criminal penalty. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
