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 law sets forth a schedule of benefits covered under the Medi-Cal program, including acupuncture, but only to the extent that federal matching funds are provided for acupuncture. Under this bill, acupuncture would instead be a covered Medi-Cal benefit subject to utilization controls and the availability of federal financial participation. The bill would, if federal financial participation is not available for coverage of acupuncture services, make acupuncture a covered benefit subject to an appropriation and utilization controls. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 14132 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 1949 and AB 350 to be operative only if this bill and either or both AB 1949 and AB 350 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law establishes the Student Aid Commission as the primary state agency for the administration of state-authorized student financial aid programs available to students attending all segments of postsecondary education. This bill would establish the California Health Care Workforce Supplemental Loan Program, under the administration of the commission, for the purpose of providing eligible students, as defined, with access to the same level of financial assistance toward the cost of attendance at an accredited medical or nursing school, or at a school's accredited social work or social welfare program, that was available on or before January 20, 2025, through federal direct unsubsidized loans and federal direct grad PLUS loans. The bill would require the commission to establish an application process and would require the loans issued under the program to have equivalent financial terms as the federal Direct PLUS Loans, as those terms existed on January 20, 2025, except for changes that the commission determines to be necessary to administer the program. The bill would create the Health Care Workforce Supplemental Loan Fund in the State Treasury.
The Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act requires the State Department of Education to post on its internet website guidelines, videos, and an information sheet on sudden cardiac arrest symptoms and warning signs, and other relevant materials relating to sudden cardiac arrest. The act also places certain duties on schools related to sudden cardiac arrest and requires athletic directors, coaches, athletic trainers, or authorized persons, as defined, to remove from participation a pupil who passes out or faints while participating in or immediately following an athletic activity. This bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the California Youth Cardiac Screening Pilot Program to provide, among other things, free cardiac screening for pupils in grades 5 to 12, inclusive, for the 2027–28 to 2029–30 school years, inclusive, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to administer the program itself or to contract with a nonprofit organization to administer the program and certain funding, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to receive voluntary or reduced-cost services from medical providers and other individuals related to the program. The bill would require the department to annually report certain information to the Department of Finance and to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, and would repeal the bill's provisions related to the pilot program on January 1, 2031.
This Senate resolution expresses support for treating biological aging as a primary strategy to prevent and delay chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer. It calls for the state to invest in research grants and public-private partnerships aimed at developing therapies that slow, prevent, or reverse the aging process. Additionally, the resolution encourages state health and aging departments to integrate aging science into their prevention programs and fosters collaboration between universities, insurers, and biotech firms to test new interventions.
Existing law, the Physical Therapy Practice Act, establishes the Physical Therapy Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure, approval, and regulation of physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. Existing law prescribes specified fees for licenses issued by the board. Existing law authorizes the board to decrease or increase the fee amounts, and establishes specified maximum amounts of license fees. Existing law repeals the board and its authority to employ an executive officer on January 1, 2027. This bill would extend the board's authority to enforce and administer the act and to appoint an executive officer until January 1, 2031. The bill would increase specified fees for licenses issued by the board and would increase the maximum amount to which the board may increase the fees, as specified. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to those fee provisions. Existing law authorizes a person whose license has been revoked or suspended, or who has been placed on probation, to petition the board for reinstatement or modification of a penalty after a specified period of time has elapsed. Existing law prohibits the board from considering a petition while the petitioner is under sentence for any criminal offense, including any period of court-imposed probation or parole, or while there is an accusation or petition to revoke probation pending against the petitioner. This bill would further prohibit the board from considering a petition if the applicant is required to register as a sex offender, as specified. The bill would except from this prohibition an applicant whose requirement to register as a sex offender is based solely on a misdemeanor conviction. The bill would also prohibit the board from considering a petition if the conduct underlying the petitioner's conviction involved certain sexual misconduct.
This bill designates May 2026 as Lyme Disease Awareness Month to highlight the importance of recognizing and preventing the disease. It does not change laws or allocate funding but serves as a formal proclamation to encourage public education and awareness during that time. The measure directly affects state officials and the general public by setting aside a specific month for focus on Lyme disease prevention.
Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to license and regulate adult alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment facilities that provide residential nonmedical services, as specified, and further requires the department to certify and regulate alcohol or other drug programs, as specified. Existing law requires a licensed facility to take specified actions, including to develop a plan to address when a resident relapses. Existing law requires a certified program to keep all policies and procedures in an operation manual. This bill would require a licensed facility to develop a suicide prevention plan. The bill would authorize the department to implement the above-described requirement by bulletin or all-county or all-provider letter, after stakeholder input, until regulations are promulgated. The bill would require the department to promulgate regulations to implement the requirement no later than January 1, 2031. The bill would require a certified program to include in its operation manual a suicide prevention plan.
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 also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing federal law, the federal Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) , requires group health plans and health insurance issuers that provide both medical and surgical benefits and mental health or substance use disorder benefits to ensure that financial requirements and treatment limitations applicable to mental health or substance use disorder benefits are no more restrictive than the predominant requirements or limitations applied to substantially all medical and surgical benefits. Existing state law requires an individual, small group, or large group health care service plan contract or health insurance policy to provide covered mental health and substance use disorder benefits in compliance with the MHPAEA and specified federal rules, regulations, and guidance. This bill would require the above-described contracts and policies to provide covered mental health and substance use disorder benefits in compliance with specified federal rules, regulations, and guidance as they existed on January 1, 2025. Because a violation of these requirements by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the departments to review provisions of the bill that conflict with or materially differ from federal regulations and collaborate with each other to issue guidance on compliance. 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 Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act, authorizes specified adult persons to petition a civil court to create a voluntary CARE agreement or a court-ordered CARE plan and implement services, to be provided by county behavioral health agencies, to provide behavioral health care, including stabilization medication, housing, and other enumerated services, to adults who are currently experiencing a severe mental illness and have a diagnosis identified in the disorder class schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, and who meet other specified criteria. Existing law authorizes specified individuals to file a petition to commence the CARE process, including, but not limited to, a spouse, parent, sibling, child, grandparent, or an individual who stands in loco parentis to the respondent. Existing law requires the court to issue an order relieving the original petitioner if the petitioner is someone other than the director of a county behavioral health agency or their designee and appoint the director or their designee as the successor petitioner. Existing law requires the original petitioner to have specified rights to notice of proceedings if the petitioner is a parent or specified family member or the person with whom the respondent resides. Existing law authorizes the court to allow the original petitioner to participate in the respondent's CARE proceedings to the extent the respondent consents. This bill would authorize the original petitioner to provide specified information regarding the respondent, including the respondent's condition, treatment history, and housing status. The bill would require the CARE team to review specified parts of the provided information, including that relevant to the respondent's care and treatment, and would authorize the court to consider that information in evaluating the respondent's progress and compliance, among other things. The bill would specify that the respondent's consent is not required to receive this information from the original petitioner and that submission of this information does not confer party status on the original petitioner or create a right to direct treatment decisions, obtain discovery, access confidential records, receive protected health information, attend confidential proceedings, or otherwise participate in the proceedings without the respondent's consent, except as expressly provided by law.
The electors of a county may propose an ordinance to the county board of supervisors by submitting an initiative petition containing signatures by registered voters in the county in an amount equal to 10% of the number of votes cast within the county for all candidates for Governor at the preceding gubernatorial election. If the county elections official certifies that an initiative petition has been signed by at least that number of voters, the county board of supervisors is required to either adopt the ordinance or submit it to the voters at the next statewide election occurring not less than 88 days later. This bill would require any Fresno County initiative petition that has been certified as sufficient by the Fresno County Registrar of Voters on or before July 8, 2026, to be submitted, without alteration, to the voters at the November 3, 2026, statewide general election. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Fresno. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
