State Policy

Below is a list of high priority bills that CAPH is following in the 2024-25 Legislative Session. 

Support: 

AB 1902 (Alanis) – Prescription Drug Labels: Accessibility. This bill would require pharmacies to provide accessible prescription labels (such as through “talking labels,” large print, or Braille) at no additional cost to individuals who identify as being blind, having low-vision, or who are otherwise print-disabled. CAPH is in support of this bill.  

AB 2115 (Haney) – Controlled Substances: Clinics. This bill would authorize a practitioner, who is authorized to prescribe a narcotic drug at a nonprofit or free clinic, to have the ability to dispense the same drug from a clinic’s supply for the purpose of relieving acute withdrawal symptoms in cases where arrangements are being made for treatment. All clinics that dispense narcotic medication through these provisions would be required to establish specific policies and procedures. This bill is co-sponsored by the San Francisco Department of Public Health. CAPH is in support of this bill.  

AB 2250 (Weber) – Social Determinants of Health: Screening and Outreach. This bill requires health plans and insurers to cover screenings for social determinants of health (SDOH) and provide primary care providers with adequate access to community health workers and social workers, among other types of workers. It also requires the Department of Health Care Services to provide reimbursement for SDOH screenings as a covered Medi-Cal benefit, contingent upon an appropriation in the budget. CAPH is in support of this bill.  

AB 2703 (Aguiar-Curry) – Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics: Psychological Associates. Current law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to seek federal approval and issue guidelines allowing federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to bill for patient encounters with associate clinical social workers or associate marriage and family therapists, supervised by a licensed behavioral health practitioner, under specific conditions. This bill extends this to psychological associates, requiring the Department to seek federal approval for them to bill for visits under similar conditions, with supervision by a licensed psychologist as set by the Board of Psychology. CAPH is in support of this bill.  

AB 3059 (Weber) – Human Milk. Currently, the law regulates tissue banks, except for “mothers’ milk banks,” which are exempt from licensing fees. This bill specifies that general acute care hospitals do not need a tissue bank license to store or distribute pasteurized human milk from these milk banks.  This bill also would make clear that commercial plans are required to cover donor milk when medically necessary.  CAPH is in support of this bill.  

AB 3260 (Pellerin) – Health Care Coverage: Reviews and Grievances. The Knox-Keene Act oversees health care plans, including reviews by professionals. This bill mandates that urgent condition reviews be decided within 72 hours, with providers’ urgency determinations binding. Plans must notify enrollees and providers within 24 hours if information is lacking and must communicate final decisions within 48 hours after certain events. Missing deadlines will make the request a grievance, necessitating notification to the enrollee. CAPH is in support of this bill.  

SB 819 (Eggman) – Medi-Cal: Certification. This bill clarifies that existing law exempts intermittent clinic sites and mobile health care units (that are operated by clinics that are exempt from licensure by the California Department of Public Health) from duplicative Medi-Cal enrollment procedures. CAPH is in support of this bill. 

SB 1432 (Caballero) – Health Facilities: Seismic Standards. This bill, sponsored by the California Hospital Association (CHA), authorizes the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) to grant or deny an extension of the 2030 deadline for substantial compliance with seismic safety regulations or standards to January 1, 2035, for any hospital building as follows: 1) For which the hospital owner submits its seismic compliance plan; 2) A Nonstructural Performance Category (NPC)-5 Evaluation Report; and, 3) An attestation to HCAI that the governing board of the hospital is aware that the hospital building is required to be in compliance with the seismic safety standards. The bill requires the hospital and HCAI to identify milestones that are used for determining whether the hospital is making progress towards meeting the compliance deadline, and allows a hospital denied an extension to appeal the denial to the Hospital Building Safety Board. CAPH is in support of this bill. 

Oppose: 

AB 2557 (Ortega) – Local Agencies: Contracts for Special Services and Temporary Help: Performance Reports. This bill would impose new requirements on the governing bodies of local agencies that wish to contract out for certain services, including posting contracts and related documents on the local agency’s website and providing advance notice to the public agency’s affected workforce union representative. The bill would also require public contracts for functions currently or previously performed by unionized public employees to include specified information beginning July 1, 2026.  CAPH is opposed to this bill.  

AB 2561 (McKinnor) – Local Public Employees: Vacant Positions. This bill: 1) authorizes a recognized public employee organization to initiate the meet and confer process with a public agency if, at the time of the request, the total number of job vacancies within total classifications of the bargaining unit is equal to or exceeds 20 percent of the total authorized positions in that bargaining unit; 2) requires the public agency to promptly meet and confer with the representative of the recognized employee organization within 30 days about substantive strategies to fill vacancies; and 3) requires a public agency to present the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts during a public hearing before the governing board at least once per fiscal year prior to the adoption of its final budget for the following year. CAPH is opposed to this bill. 

ACA 14 (Ortega) – University of California: Basic State Labor Standards. This bill mandates that University of California employees receive state labor protections and prevailing wages for their work. It allows the Legislature to further strengthen these rights and introduce additional health, safety, and labor protections for these employees.  CAPH is opposed.