Equity in Higher Education Act: time, place, and manner policies: student code of conduct violations: open forum.

All health care coverage provisions were removed: the requirement for health care service plans and insurers to conduct annual surveys on out-of-network behavioral health access (Business and Professions Code 502, Health and Safety Code 1374.199, Insurance Code 10127.22), and the requirement for licensing boards to collect data on whether licensees are contracted providers and what types of coverage they accept.

New Section 66270.8 of the Education Code requires CSU (and requests UC) to hold an open forum on a selected campus by December 31, 2027, to elicit student feedback on content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions, and to notify relevant legislative policy committees of the forum's location and date. This section sunsets January 1, 2028.

The annual report to the Legislature must now include information on student code of conduct violations that occurred during or as a result of a protest on campus, including a description of the discipline imposed, with student data disaggregated by race and gender.

The state-mandated local program finding changed from 'yes' to 'no,' reflecting the removal of the health care provisions that had triggered the mandate finding.

The open forum provision (new Section 66270.8) has its own sunset date of January 1, 2028, one year earlier than the main section's sunset of January 1, 2029.

Added an entirely new subject matter: amendment to Section 66270.7 of the Education Code governing campus conduct at California State University and (by request) the University of California. The bill now covers both health care coverage and public postsecondary education.

Requires CSU Trustees to adopt student code of conduct rules prohibiting violent, harassing, intimidating, or discriminatory conduct that creates a hostile environment, and prohibiting conduct that limits participation in the free exchange of ideas or educational mission.

Requires each CSU campus to publish content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions (and any advance permitting requirements) for protests on its website.

Requires each CSU campus to establish a committee that must hold at least two student hearings before January 1, 2029, to gather feedback on how protest restrictions are working and being enforced.

Requires the CSU Trustees to submit an annual report to the Legislature (by January 2 each year) on implementation of the section, now including demographic data about students reported to have violated the student codes of conduct.

The new Education Code provisions sunset and are repealed as of January 1, 2029.

The state-mandated local program designation changed from 'yes' to 'no,' reflecting that the new education provisions do not impose reimbursable costs on local agencies in the same way the health care provisions did.

Added Section 4 (Health and Safety Code 1374.199) requiring health care service plans to conduct an annual survey of all enrollees assessing out-of-network behavioral health utilization, total out-of-pocket expenditures for both in-network and out-of-network services, and reasons for going out of network. First report due May 1, 2028, annually thereafter.

Added Section 5 (Insurance Code 10127.22) imposing parallel annual survey requirements on health insurers (as distinct from health care service plans), with the same reporting deadline of May 1, 2028.

Added Section 3 amending Business and Professions Code Section 502 to require healing arts licensing boards to collect workforce data including whether a licensee is a contracted provider with a health care service plan or insurer and the type of coverage (commercial, Medi-Cal, Medicare).

DMHC and the Department of Insurance must finalize regulations and a standard survey tool by July 1, 2027. Plans and insurers must be using those standards by October 1, 2027.

The licensing renewal question about insurance contracting was changed from a mandatory question to an optional question. Licensees cannot be required to provide the information as a condition of renewal and cannot be disciplined for not providing it.

Added detailed definitions for 'culturally and linguistically competent care,' 'disparity,' 'in-network,' 'out-of-network,' 'member-level demographic data,' and 'out-of-pocket' in both the health care service plan and health insurer sections.

The survey scope was broadened from simply reporting 'the percentage of enrollees going in network or out of network' to assessing 'number and prevalence,' total out-of-pocket expenditures for both in-network and out-of-network services, and reasons including lack of access to affordable, timely, geographically accessible, and culturally and linguistically responsive care delivered in person or via telehealth.

Added a requirement that DMHC develop an annual report combining survey findings with existing network adequacy data on behavioral health provider requests and determinations. The Department of Insurance must do the same for insurers.

Fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes' and state-mandated local program changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now triggers fiscal analysis and creates a state-mandated local program (because a willful violation by a health care service plan would be a crime).

Added Section 6 providing that no reimbursement is required under Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs to local agencies arise from the creation of a new crime or infraction.