Healthcare

Existing law generally governs a patient's access to the patient's own health records. Existing law establishes procedures for providing access to health care records or summaries of those records by patients and by those persons who have responsibility for decisions regarding the health care of others, as described. Existing law sets forth the Legislature's findings and declarations regarding the right of access to that information, as specified. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those findings and declarations.

Senate Resolution 128 designates September 3, 2026, as California Neuroblastoma Awareness Day. The bill aims to recognize the resilience of children and families affected by this specific childhood cancer and support medical professionals working to treat it. It highlights that neuroblastoma is the most common cancer in infants and notes that increased public awareness can help drive earlier diagnosis and research investment.

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, including certain dental services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under the Medi-Cal Dental Provider Handbook, the maximum allowance for a house/extended care facility call under a specified billing code is $20. This bill would require the department to increase the Medi-Cal reimbursement base rate for a house/extended care facility call in order to reflect the reasonable travel costs for purposes of delivering dental services in the patient's private residence or applicable facility instead of the location of the dental provider. The bill would condition implementation of these provisions on an appropriation, receipt of any necessary federal approvals, and the availability of federal financial participation.

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 establishes procedures for counties in making Medi-Cal eligibility determinations and redeterminations. Existing federal law, enacted on July 4, 2025, sets forth various changes to Medicaid eligibility with regard to community engagement reporting, redeterminations, cost sharing, and retroactive coverage, among other factors, for certain Medicaid populations pursuant to a specified implementation timeline. This bill, the Protect the Promise Act, would require the department, in coordination with counties, to verify Medi-Cal eligibility before enrollment approval whenever reliable data sources are available. The bill, subject to any exceptions under federal law, would prohibit self-attestation alone for Medi-Cal eligibility purposes from being accepted for the eligibility factors of income, residency, identity, household composition, or citizenship or immigration status. The bill would require the department and the county to fully utilize certain data sets and verification systems. The bill would require the department to cross-reference beneficiary data with certain databases, complete a one-time submission of enrollment data to the federal government, and review information from specified federal and state sources. The bill would require the department to maintain a continuous process to identify changes in residency. The bill would require the department to require regular and systematic eligibility redeterminations, as specified. The bill would require the department and the county to identify eligibility errors, correct errors, and recover improper payments. The bill would require the department to establish enforceable accountability mechanisms, including, among others, reports to the Legislature and designation of officials. By creating new duties for counties relating to Medi-Cal eligibility determinations and redeterminations, 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.

Existing state sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. The Sales and Use Tax Law provides various exemptions from those taxes. This bill would, until January 1, 2032, exempt from those taxes the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, over-the-counter medication, as defined. Existing law requires a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would make findings detailing the goals of the above-described tax expenditure and performance indicators for determining whether the tax expenditure meets those goals. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. This bill would provide that the exemption created by this bill does not apply to local sales and use taxes or transactions and use taxes. Existing law imposes or dedicates certain state sales and use tax rates for local funding, including through the Local Revenue Fund 2011. This bill would provide that the exemption created by this bill does not apply to those state sales and use tax rates imposed or dedicated for local government funding, including those rates for which revenues are deposited into the Local Revenue Fund 2011. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

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 requires a full service health care service plan, excluding a Medi-Cal managed care plan, or its delegate, to subscribe to and use the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare credentialing form on and after January 1, 2028. On and after January 1, 2027, existing law requires a health care service plan, excluding a Medi-Cal managed care plan, or its delegate, that credentials health care providers for its networks to make a determination regarding the credentials of a provider within 90 days after receiving a completed provider credentialing application. This bill would extend the application of the above-described requirements to Medi-Cal managed care plans. Because a willful violation of these requirements by a Medi-Cal managed care plan would be a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

This measure would petition the President and the Congress of the United States to direct specified federal agencies to, among other things, oversee targeted scientific research into the environmental co-factors and potential triggers of Ewing Sarcoma. The measure would request the Governor to direct specified state agencies to establish a scientific partnership to, among other things, enable joint access to epidemiological data. The measure would further urge specific federal agencies to make grant funding available to California academic medical institutions and state agencies, among others, to investigate chemical exposure pathways and localized cluster dynamics in south Orange County.

This California state resolution urges federal immigration agencies to prioritize and expedite the processing of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals renewals, work authorization documents, and H-1B visas. It cites significant delays in application processing that have caused income instability and job losses for over 140,000 Californians participating in the DACA program. The resolution specifically highlights the impact on essential workers in education and health care, arguing that timely processing is necessary to protect community economic stability and workforce availability.

Existing law provides for the licensure of alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment facilities, and the certification of alcohol or other drug programs, by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law requires the department to develop and maintain a centralized indicator data collection system that gathers and obtains information on the status of alcohol and other drug problems in the state, and requires the information to include, among other things, the number and characteristics of persons receiving recovery or treatment services from alcohol and other drug programs providing publicly funded services or services licensed by the state. Existing data collection systems developed by the department, known as the California Outcomes Measurement System Treatment and Drug and the Alcohol Treatment Access Report, collect data for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services and SUD treatment capacity from specified treatment providers. This bill would require the above-described facilities and programs, commencing on January 1, 2028, to submit to the department certain data, including, treatment and outcome information and treatment availability information consistent with the requirements of the California Outcomes Measurement System Treatment and the Drug and the Alcohol Treatment Access Report. The bill would not apply to an entity that is contracted to provide Medi-Cal treatment services or contracted with the department, among others, and would clarify that these provisions do not impose additional or new reporting requirements on an entity that reports data to the department through the California Outcomes Measurement System Treatment and the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Access Report.

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, including pharmacy services and drugs. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by 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 federal matching funds are provided for acupuncture. To the extent federal financial participation is available, this bill would require the Medi-Cal program to cover up to 24 acupuncture visits per beneficiary per calendar year and would state that additional visits per calendar year may be authorized based on medical necessity. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 14132 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 350 and SB 944 to be operative only if this bill and either or both AB 350 and SB 944 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would make certain provisions operative only if both this bill and SB 944 is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2027.