(1) Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, requires the California State Board of Pharmacy within the Department of Consumer Affairs to license and regulate the practice of pharmacy, including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacies. Existing law authorizes the board, with the approval of the Director of Consumer Affairs, to appoint an executive officer to exercise certain powers and to perform certain duties delegated by the board, as specified. Existing law repeals the provisions establishing the board and authorizing the appointment of an executive officer on January 1, 2026, rendering the board subject to review by the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature. This bill would provide that the board has exclusive authority to administer and enforce the Pharmacy Law related to the practice of pharmacy and the licensing of pharmacists and pharmacies, and would specify that its provisions do not prohibit the board from evaluating or acting regarding unlicensed activity, as provided. The bill would extend the repeal date of the above-described provisions to January 1, 2030. The bill would additionally require the board to establish a Pharmacy Technician Advisory Committee to advise and make recommendations to the board, as specified. Existing law specifies the fees for issuance or renewal of licenses issued pursuant to the Pharmacy Law, including, among others, pharmacy licenses. This bill would require the board to waive the application fee for a pharmacy operating a physical location in a medically underserved area, as defined, and would authorize the board to waive the fee for the annual renewal of a license if the licensee provides the board with certification of continued operation in the medically underserved area. (2) Existing law authorizes a pharmacist to perform various procedures and functions, including those related to dispensing or furnishing drugs or devices, as specified. Existing law generally requires a pharmacist's dispensing or furnishing drugs to be done pursuant to a valid prescription, except as provided in specified circumstances. Those exceptions include furnishing an FDA-approved opioid antagonist, emergency contraception drug therapy, self-administered hormonal contraceptives, nicotine replacement products, certain medications for individuals traveling outside of the United States, and certain HIV medications, as specified. Existing law requires certain conditions to be met for a pharmacist to authorize the initiation of a prescription under certain of those exceptions or to otherwise provide clinical advice, services, information, or patient consultation. This bill would revise and recast the above-described provisions to authorize a pharmacist to, among other things, furnish dangerous devices, to furnish FDA-approved or authorized medications as part of preventative health care services that do not require a diagnosis, as specified, and to complete missing information on a prescription for a noncontrolled medication if there is evidence to support the change. The bill would require that a pharmacist provide those and other specified services or activities consistent with the accepted standard of care, defined to mean the degree of care a prudent and reasonable pharmacist licensed under the Pharmacy Law, with similar education, training, experience, resources, and setting, would use in a similar situation. The bill would make nonsubstantive, conforming changes. Existing law requires the clinical advice, services, information, or patient consultation that a pharmacist provides to be provided to a health care professional or to a patient. This bill would authorize a pharmacist to provide the clinical advice, services, information, or patient consultation to a patient's agent. Existing law, until January 1, 2026, authorizes a pharmacist to furnish COVID-19 oral therapeutics, as defined, following a positive test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in accordance with specified requirements. This bill would delete the January 1, 2026, repeal date, thereby extending this authorization indefinitely. Existing law prohibits a dangerous drug from being refilled without the authorization of the prescriber, except under specified circumstances. Under those circumstances, existing law requires a pharmacist to make every reasonable effort to contact the prescriber. This bill would remove the above-described requirement that the pharmacist make every reasonable effort to contact the prescriber. Existing law authorizes a pharmacist to dispense not more than a 90-day supply of a dangerous drug other than a controlled substance pursuant to a valid prescription that specifies an initial quantity of less than a 90-day supply followed by periodic refills of that amount if certain requirements are met. Existing law prohibits a pharmacist from dispensing a greater supply pursuant to that provision if the prescriber indicates that there is to be no change to the quantity of the refill, as specified. This bill would remove that prohibition. Existing law authorizes a pharmacy to dispense epinephrine auto-injectors to a prehospital emergency medical care person or lay rescuer for the purpose of rendering emergency care, as specified. This bill would remove the above-described authorization. (3) Existing law authorizes a licensed pharmacist to perform additional functions if the licensee is recognized by the board as "an advanced practice pharmacist" by meeting certain requirements. Those additional functions include, among others, performing patient assessments, ordering and interpreting drug therapy-related tests, and initiating, adjusting, or discontinuing drug therapy, as specified. The requirements for recognition as an advanced practice pharmacist include having completed a combination of specified certifications, postgraduate residencies, or experience under a collaborative practice agreement or protocol with a physician. Existing law also requires an advanced practice pharmacist to complete 10 hours of continuing education in addition to the continuing education otherwise required at the time of a second or subsequent license renewal. This bill would revise those and other related provisions to refer to those licensees as "advanced pharmacist practitioners," instead of as "advanced practice pharmacists." (4) Existing law prohibits any person from furnishing or dispensing any dangerous drug or device on the internet for delivery to any person in California without a prescription issued pursuant to a "good faith prior examination," as provided. This bill would instead refer to that examination as an "appropriate prior examination." (5) Existing law authorizes the board to issue citations containing fines and orders of abatement for violations of specified law, as provided. Existing law authorizes the board to bring an action against a chain community pharmacy under common ownership or management for fines for a violation of the Pharmacy Law that was expressly encouraged by the common owner or manager, as provided. This bill would instead apply those fines for a violation that was expressly encouraged by any owner or manager of the chain community pharmacy. Existing law authorizes the board to bring an action for fines for repeated violations of materially similar provisions of the Pharmacy Law within 5 years by 3 or more pharmacies operating under common ownership or management within a chain community pharmacy, as specified. Existing law provides a pharmacy with a defense if it establishes that the violation was contrary to a written policy that was communicated by the common owner or manager to all employees where the violation occurred. Existing law also provides a defense if the pharmacy establishes that, within 6 months after the violation, the common owner or manager corrected all unlawful policies, communicated the change in policies, and provided the board with proof of abatement of the violation, as specified. This bill would, for the defense that the violation was contrary to a written policy, also require the entity to establish that it has complied with the policy. The bill would revise the above-described corrective-actions defense by allowing those actions to be undertaken by any owner or manager of the pharmacy. The bill would additionally authorize the board to bring an action for fines for repeated violations of materially similar provisions of the Pharmacy Law against a mail order pharmacy, defined as a nonresident pharmacy that dispenses medications and ships them to patients via the postal service or other mail delivery method, as provided. The bill would require the board, in determining the amount of the fine, to consider mitigating and aggregating factors, as specified. (6) Existing law prohibits the board from issuing a pharmacy license to a person who has a shared community or financial interest with a person authorized to prescribe or write a prescription, as provided. This bill would establish an exception to the above-described prohibition under which the applicant and the prescriber would be required to provide statements that the prescriber disavows any community or financial interest in the license and to transmute any interest in the license that is shared community property into the separate property of the applicant, as provided. The bill would prohibit a pharmacy granted a license pursuant to this exception from filling any prescriptions issued or prescribed by a person who shares a community or other financial interest with the licensee or a prescriber at the same place of business as that person if the prescriber owns an interest greater than 10% in the practice issuing the prescription. Existing law authorizes the board to issue a retired license to a licensed pharmacist, as specified. Existing law authorizes the holder of a retired license to restore their license to active status by passing the examination that is required for initial licensure with the board. This bill would instead authorize the holder of a retired license to request to restore their license to active status within 3 years of issuance of the retired license by paying a renewal fee and successfully completing certain continuing education within the 2 years preceding the request, as specified. If more than 3 years have elapsed since the issuance of the retired license, the bill would require the holder of the retired license to reapply for licensure as a pharmacist, as specified. Existing law authorizes the board to deny a license application if the applicant has been convicted of a crime or subjected to formal discipline that would be grounds for denial of a federal registration to distribute controlled substances. This bill would also authorize the board to deny a license application if the applicant has been convicted of a crime involving fraud in violation of state or federal laws related to health care or involving financial identity theft. Existing law requires certain licensed facilities to perform a self-assessment evaluating compliance with specified provisions of the Pharmacy Law, as provided. This bill would require all licensed facilities to complete a self-assessment every odd-numbered year and within 30 days of certain changes to the license, management personnel, and location, as provided. The bill would require this self-assessment to be signed under penalty of perjury, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by expanding the crime of perjury. (7) Existing law requires a pharmacy to designate a pharmacist-in-charge and notify the board within 30 days of that designation, as specified. Existing law authorizes the pharmacist-in-charge to, among other things, make staffing decisions and notify store management of dangerous conditions, as specified. This bill would require the pharmacist-in-charge to determine the appropriate pharmacist-to-technician ratio, within prescribed limits, and prohibit anyone else from interfering with the exercise of the pharmacist-in-charge's independent professional judgment in setting this ratio. The bill would additionally require the pharmacist-in-charge to notify the owner or hospital administrator of dangerous conditions, as specified. Existing law provides for the licensing of nonresident pharmacies, as specified. Existing law prohibits a pharmacist at a nonresident pharmacy whose license has been revoked from prescribing a dangerous drug or providing other pharmacy-related services, as specified. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2026, require a nonresident pharmacy, as a prerequisite to registering with the board and ongoing licensure, to identify a California-licensed pharmacist employed and working at the nonresident pharmacy to be proposed to serve as the pharmacist-in-charge. The bill would also require the nonresident pharmacy, within 90 days of designating a pharmacist-in-charge, to notify the board of the identity and license number of that pharmacist and the date they were designated, as specified. The bill would require the nonresident pharmacy, within 90 days, to notify the board of a pharmacist-in-charge ceasing to act as the pharmacist-in-charge and to propose another pharmacist to take over as the pharmacist-in-charge. The bill would additionally, beginning July 1, 2026, prohibit a nonresident pharmacy from permitting a pharmacist-in-charge who is not licensed in California from working at a nonresident pharmacy. The bill would authorize the board to inspect a nonresident pharmacy. The bill would require a nonresident pharmacy to deposit a reasonable amount, as determined by the board, necessary to cover the board's estimated reasonable costs of performing the inspection, as specified. (8) Existing law limits a pharmacy with only one pharmacist to one pharmacy technician performing packaging, manipulative, repetitive, or other nondiscretionary tasks. This bill would increase this limit to 3 pharmacy technicians performing those tasks. (9) Existing law requires a pharmacy to preserve certain records, as provided. This bill would require a pharmacy to additionally maintain records related to prescribed policies and procedures in a readily retrievable format. The bill would also impose requirements related to electronically maintained records. (10) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4064.5 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 418 to be operative only if this bill and SB 418 is enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4076 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 260 to be operative only if this bill and AB 260 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (11) Because a violation of these provisions 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.
Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, establishes in the Department of Consumer Affairs the California State Board of Pharmacy to license and regulate the practice of pharmacy. Exiting law requires a pharmacist, when furnishing self-administered hormonal contraceptives, to follow specified standardized procedures or protocols developed and approved by both the board and the Medical Board of California in consultation with the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the California Pharmacists Association, and other appropriate entities. Existing law requires those standardized procedures or protocols to require that the patient use a self-screening tool that will identify related patient risk factors and that require the pharmacist to refer the patient for appropriate followup care, as specified. Existing law requires the pharmacist to provide the recipient of the drug with a standardized factsheet that includes the indications and contraindications for use of the drug, the appropriate method for using the drug, the need for medical followup, and other appropriate information. Existing law authorizes a pharmacist furnishing an FDA-approved, self-administered hormonal contraceptive pursuant to the above-described protocols to furnish, at the patient's request, up to a 12-month supply at one time. This bill would limit the application of those requirements to self-administered hormonal contraceptives that are prescription-only, and would authorize a pharmacist to furnish over-the-counter contraceptives without following those standardized procedures or protocols. The bill would additionally authorize a pharmacist to furnish up to a 12-month supply at one time of over-the-counter contraceptives at the patient's request. The bill would make related conforming changes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons. Existing law establishes the Osteopathic Medical Board of California and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of osteopathic physicians and surgeons consistent with the Osteopathic Act, as specified. This bill would require those boards to require each applicant to furnish a full set of fingerprints for purposes of conducting criminal history record checks. The bill would require the board to submit those fingerprint images and related information to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and would require the DOJ to charge a fee for those costs, as prescribed. Existing law requires medical school graduates, within 180 days after beginning a board-approved postgraduate program, to obtain a physician's and surgeon's postgraduate training license. Existing law requires each application to include either fingerprint cards or a copy of a completed Live Scan form from the applicant in order to establish the identity of the applicant and whether the applicant has a criminal conviction, in accordance with specified provisions. This bill would delete the above provisions on using that information in order to establish the applicant's identity and criminal conviction records. The bill would instead require those boards to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information required by the DOJ of all applicants to determine whether the applicant has a criminal conviction record, as specified. The bill would require the DOJ to provide a state- and federal-level response, as described. Existing law requires each application for a medical license to contain specified information including either fingerprint cards or a copy of a completed Live Scan form from the applicant in order to establish the applicant's identity and criminal conviction records. This bill would delete the above provisions on using that information in order to establish the applicant's identity and criminal conviction records. The bill would instead require those boards to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information required by the DOJ of all applicants to determine whether the applicant has a criminal conviction record, as specified. The bill would require the DOJ to provide a state- and federal-level response, as described. Existing law establishes a process for physicians who are not citizens but who meet certain postgraduate requirements to participate in professional activities of approved medical schools or academic medical centers, subject to completing an application process and submitting the requisite fees established by the board. This bill would require the board to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information to determine if an applicant has a criminal conviction record, as specified. The bill would require the DOJ to provide a state- and federal-level response, as described. Existing law establishes a process for a person who does not immediately qualify for a physician's and surgeon's certificate and who is offered a full-time faculty position at a medical school or academic medical center to be granted a certificate to engage in the practice of medicine. Existing law requires an applicant to submit specified information to the board to qualify for the certificate. This bill would require the board to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information to determine whether an applicant has a criminal conviction record, as specified. The bill would require the DOJ to provide a specified response, as described. Existing law establishes the Licensed Physicians from Mexico Program under which the Medical Board of California is required to issue a 3-year physician and surgeon's license to each licensed physician from Mexico who, among other requirements, passes a board review course with a score equivalent to that registered by United States applicants when passing a board review course for the United States certification examination in each of the physician's specialty areas. This bill would delete that requirement. The bill would also require the board to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information to determine whether an applicant has a criminal conviction record, as specified. The bill would require the DOJ to provide a specified state- and federal-level response, as described. Existing law authorizes a person who meets specified eligibility requirements to apply for a special faculty permit to practice medicine only within a medical school or certain affiliated institution. Existing law requires the application for a special faculty permit to be on a form prescribed by the board and to include specified information regarding the applicant's qualifications. This bill would require the board to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information to determine whether an applicant has a criminal conviction record, as specified. The bill would require the DOJ to provide a specified state- and federal-level response, as described. (2) Existing law, the Licensed Midwifery Practice Act of 1993, provides for the licensure and regulation of midwives by the Medical Board of California in accordance with specified procedures. This bill would require the board to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information to determine whether an applicant has a criminal conviction record, as specified. The bill would require the DOJ to provide a specified state and federal response, as described. (3) Existing law, the Psychology Licensing Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of psychologists by the Board of Psychology. Existing law also establishes a process whereby a person who is registered with the board as a psychological associate may perform psychological functions in preparation for licensure as a psychologist. Existing law further establishes procedures for graduates and students who have completed certain psychoanalysis training to engage in psychoanalysis as an adjunct to teaching, training, or research, subject to meeting certain requirements. Existing law authorizes a person who is registered with the board as a psychological testing technician to administer and score standardized objective psychological and related tests, upon meeting specified application requirements. This bill would require the board to require the above-described applicants for licensure or registration under that law to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check. The bill would require the board to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information for those individuals and would require the department to provide a state- and federal-level response, as described. (4) Existing law requires the Medical Board of California to promulgate regulations regarding qualifications for the registration of individuals as certified polysomnographic technologists, polysomnographic technicians, and polysomnographic trainees, in accordance with certain procedures. Under existing law, an individual seeking registration from the board under these provisions is subject to a state- and federal-level criminal offender record information search conducted through the DOJ, as specified. This bill would revise and recast the above-described criminal information requirements. The bill would require the board to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information to determine whether an applicant has a criminal conviction record, as specified. The bill would also require the department to provide a state- and federal-level response, as described. (5) Existing law establishes the Board of Behavioral Sciences to license and regulate specified professionals, including marriage and family therapists and educational psychologists, among others. Existing law requires the board to keep an accurate record of all applicants for licensure and all individuals to whom it has issued a license. This bill would require the board to require an applicant for a marriage and family therapist licensure, registration as an associate marriage and family therapist, and other specified behavioral sciences professionals to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check. The bill would require the board to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information to determine whether an applicant has a criminal conviction record, as specified. The bill would require the DOJ to provide a state- and federal-level response, as described. (6) Existing law, the Collateral Recovery Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of repossession agencies by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. This bill would require the bureau to require each applicant as a repossession agency licensee, qualified certificate holder, or registrant, as defined, to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check. The bill would require the bureau to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information on applicants. The bill would require the DOJ to provide a state- and federal-level response, as prescribed. (7) Existing law, the Private Investigator Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of private investigators by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. This bill would require the bureau to require each applicant for a private investigator license and qualified manager, as defined, to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check. The bill would require the bureau to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information on applicants. The bill would require the DOJ to provide a state- and federal-level response, as described. (8) Existing law, the Household Movers Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of household movers, including corporations and persons, as defined, by the Division of Household Movers established within the Bureau of Household Goods and Services. Existing law establishes a process for each applicant under that act to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information as a prerequisite to the issuance of a permit to operate as a household mover. This bill would revise and recast those provisions. The bill would require the bureau to require each applicant for a permit as a household mover, as defined, to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check. The bill would require the bureau to submit to the DOJ fingerprint images and related information for the purposes of obtaining information as to state and federal convictions and arrests, as prescribed. (9) Existing law requires a fingerprint-based criminal history information check that is required pursuant to any statute to be requested from the DOJ. When a government agency or other entity requests such a criminal history check for purposes of employment, licensing, or certification, existing law requires the DOJ to disseminate specified information in response to the request, including information regarding convictions and arrests for which the applicant is presently awaiting trial. Existing law establishes the State Department of Education, under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and assigns to it numerous duties relating to the governance and financing of the public elementary and secondary schools of this state. Existing law establishes the California School for the Deaf, Northern California, the California School for the Deaf, Southern California, and the California School for the Blind, known as the state special schools, under the administration of the department, and 3 related diagnostic centers under the administration of the Superintendent, as provided. This bill would authorize the department to require employees, prospective employees, volunteers, contractors, and subcontractors of the department, the state special schools, or the diagnostic centers to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check, as provided. (10) Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. This bill would authorize the California State University to require employees, prospective employees, volunteers, contractors to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check, as provided. (11) The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes, including, among others, as may be necessary to ensure the security of its funds. This bill would expressly authorize the University of California to require background checks, to be completed by the DOJ as specified, during the final stages of the recruitment process for prospective staff employees, contractors, and volunteers. (12) Existing law requires the sheriff or other specified agency to furnish a classifiable set of fingerprints to the DOJ and to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for every peace officer employed, except as provided. This bill would require a law enforcement agency, as defined, to require peace officers and prospective peace officers to undergo a criminal history background check and to submit fingerprint images and related information to the DOJ, as specified. The bill would require the DOJ to provide a state- or federal-level response, as described. By increasing the duties of local law enforcement agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (13) Under the Yacht and Ship Brokers Act, the Division of Boating and Waterways in the Department of Parks and Recreation licenses the activities of brokers and salespersons engaged in the buying and selling of yachts and ships, as specified. The act authorizes the division to deny an application or suspend or revoke the license of a yacht broker or yacht salesperson who, within 4 years immediately preceding, has committed any of certain specified acts, including, among others, having been convicted of a felony or any crime involving moral turpitude or withholding information from the department that they at any time have been convicted of a felony or any crime involving moral turpitude. This bill would require the division to require an applicant for a yacht and ship broker or salesperson license to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check, as provided. (14) Existing law requires the DOJ to maintain state summary criminal history information, as defined, and to furnish this information to various state and local government officers, officials, and other prescribed entities, if needed in the course of their duties. Existing law makes it a crime for a person authorized by law to receive state summary criminal history information to knowingly furnish that information to a person who is not authorized to receive it. This bill would require the DOJ to inform the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Senate Standing Committee on Public Safety, and the Assembly Public Safety Committee, as specified, within 30 days of determining that a legislative enactment is likely to be needed, for an entity that is authorized to receive criminal history information, to reestablish or retain proper authorization for an applicant population. The bill would additionally prohibit the department from disseminating criminal history information, as specified. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require a criminal justice agency to submit fingerprint images and related information for a specified individual to the department if the individual is subject to a state or national criminal history background check, as specified. By expanding the scope of the crime of unlawful disclosure of state summary criminal history information, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require certain government entities, including, among others, the California State Summer School for the Arts and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to submit fingerprint images and related information for various persons, including employees or prospective employees, to the DOJ, if the employees are subject to a state and national criminal history background check, as specified. The bill would also require a law enforcement agency, if it performs a background check, to submit fingerprint images and related information for a retiring or retired peace officer seeking an endorsement for the officer to carry a concealed and loaded firearm. (15) Existing law requires the DOJ to provide subsequent state or federal arrest or disposition notification to the State Department of Social Services, the Medical Board of California, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, and other authorized entities to assist in, among other things, fulfilling employment, licensing, or certification duties. Existing law requires an entity, other than a law enforcement agency, as defined, to enter into a contract with the DOJ in order to receive notification of subsequent state or federal arrests or dispositions for licensing, employment, or certification purposes. Commencing January 1, 2028, this bill would no longer exempt law enforcement agencies from the contract requirement. Commencing January 1, 2028, the bill would also require authorized entities for each volunteer, as specified, to verify no less than every 6 months that the person is still a volunteer with the entity. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (17) This bill would, for the 2025–26 fiscal year, appropriate the sum of $10,000 to the DOJ for purposes of administering the above-described fingerprint requirements. (18) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, establishes, in the Department of Consumer Affairs, the California State Board of Pharmacy to license and regulate the practice of pharmacy. Existing law authorizes a physician and surgeon, nurse practitioner, registered nurse, and specified other health care practitioners acting within the scope of their practice to use a self-screening tool to identify patient risk factors for the use of self-administered hormonal contraceptives by a patient and, after examination, to prescribe, furnish, or dispense self-administered hormonal contraceptives to the patient. This bill would, instead, make those provisions applicable to contraceptives. Existing law authorizes a pharmacist to furnish self-administered hormonal contraceptives in accordance with standardized procedures or protocols developed and approved by both the California State Board of Pharmacy and the Medical Board of California, in consultation with specified other entities. This bill would authorize a pharmacist to also furnish federal Food and Drug Administration-approved nonhormonal contraceptives in accordance with those standardized procedures or protocols. The bill would require a pharmacist, for each federal Food and Drug Administration-approved nonhormonal contraceptives initiated, to provide the recipient with a standardized fact sheet, as specified. Existing law prohibits a pharmacist, pharmacist's employer, or pharmacist's agent from directly charging a patient a separate consultation fee for emergency contraception drug therapy services and requires the pharmacist to disclose the total retail price of the emergency contraception drug therapy. Existing law makes those provisions inoperative for dedicated emergency contraception drugs if these drugs are reclassified as over-the-counter products by the federal Food and Drug Administration. This bill would delete those provisions. Existing law requires a pharmacist to dispense, at a patient's request, up to a 12-month supply of an FDA-approved, self-administered hormonal contraceptive. This bill would, instead, make those provisions applicable to contraceptives. This bill would make related conforming changes.
This measure would recognize May 2025 as Head Start Month and call on the Congress and the President of the United States to protect and increase funding for Head Start.
Existing law provides for 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. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law authorizes the provision of Medi-Cal benefits by a contracted managed care plan and requires that benefits provided by a managed care plan are subject to specified time and distance standards. 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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan or health insurer that provides or arranges for the provision of hospital or physician services to comply with specified timely access to care requirements, including ensuring that its network has adequate capacity and availability of licensed health care providers to offer enrollees and insureds appointments that meet specified timeframes. Existing law authorizes the department director to take enforcement action against health care plans that fail to comply with these provisions, including assessing administrative penalties. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, the Department of Managed Health Care, the Department of Insurance, and the State Department of Health Care Services to consult together and with stakeholders develop and adopt standards for the geographic accessibility of perinatal units to ensure timely access for enrollees and insureds, as specified. The bill's provisions would become inoperative on July 1, 2033, and would be repealed on January 1, 2034. Because a violation by a health care service plan of a standard adopted by the Department of Managed Health Care 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.
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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, renewed, or delivered on or after January 1, 2024, that provides coverage for medically necessary treatment of mental health and substance use disorders to cover the provision of those services to an individual 25 years of age or younger when delivered at a schoolsite. This bill would expand the definition of schoolsite to additionally require a contract or policy that provides coverage for medically necessary treatment of mental health and substance use disorders to cover the provision of those services to an individual 25 years of age or younger when delivered at a qualified youth drop-in center. Because a violation of this requirement relative to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, 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 and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law requires a Medi-Cal managed care plan or Medi-Cal behavioral health delivery system to reimburse providers of medically necessary outpatient mental health or substance use disorder treatment provided at a schoolsite to a student 25 years of age or younger who is an enrollee of the plan or delivery system, as specified. Because of the expansion of the definition of schoolsite to include qualified youth drop-in centers, this bill would expand the above-described reimbursement requirement to those services when provided at a qualified youth drop-in center, as specified. 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 the State Department of Public Health to, among other things, implement and administer various programs relating to public health. Existing law, the Valley Fever Education, Early Diagnosis, and Treatment Act, states the intent of the Legislature to raise awareness of the symptoms, tests, and treatments for valley fever among the general public, primary health care providers, and health care providers who care for persons at higher risk for getting valley fever. This bill, the Valley Fever Screening and Prevention Act of 2025, would require the department, in consultation with subject matter experts, to the extent feasible and using available data and resources, including public health surveillance data, to annually analyze and identify regions with elevated rates of valley fever. The bill would require the department to publish its first list of high-incidence regions for valley fever on or before March 1, 2027. The bill would require the department to provide local health departments in high-incidence regions with detailed infection data and standardized screening protocols that align with the current national clinical practice recommendations for valley fever. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2030, and every 2 years thereafter, to evaluate the effectiveness of the valley fever screening and prevention program and report its findings to the Legislature. This bill would require local health departments in high-incidence areas to conduct outreach to health care providers and the general public to raise awareness of valley fever risks, symptoms, and prevention strategies. The bill would require local health departments to annually report the number of confirmed cases of valley fever to the department, as specified. By imposing duties on local health departments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities and clinics by the State Department of Public Health. A violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill, commencing January 1, 2028, would require an adult patient receiving primary care services in a facility, clinic, unlicensed clinic, center, office, or other setting, and in a high-incidence region for valley fever, to be screened for valley fever, to the extent the services are covered under the patient's health insurance, unless specified circumstances exist. If the results of a screening suggest that testing should be considered, the bill would require the health care provider to offer the patient diagnostic testing. If the test result is positive, the health care provider shall offer care, as specified, for valley fever management. The bill would prohibit a health care provider who, based on their professional judgment, determines it is not appropriate to screen, offer to screen, or consider or offer a patient testing for valley fever from being subject to any disciplinary action related to their licensure, certification, or privileges in relation to that determination. The bill would also prohibit a violation of these provisions from being the basis of civil or criminal liability. By expanding the scope of a crime applicable to the health care settings described above, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy, except as specified, from imposing a deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or other requirement on a valley fever screening or test, as specified, in high-incidence regions for valley fever. Because a violation of this requirement relative to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
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 and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law, subject to implementation of the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, requires the department to implement an enhanced care management (ECM) benefit designed to address the clinical and nonclinical needs on a whole-person-care basis for certain target populations of Medi-Cal beneficiaries enrolled in Medi-Cal managed care plans. Under existing law, target populations include, among others, high utilizers with frequent hospital admissions, short-term skilled nursing facility stays, or emergency room visits, and individuals experiencing homelessness. Existing law, subject to CalAIM implementation, authorizes a Medi-Cal managed care plan to elect to cover community supports, as specified. Under existing law, community supports that the department is authorized to approve include, among others, housing transition navigation services and medically supportive food and nutrition services. This bill would require a Medi-Cal managed care plan, for purposes of covering the ECM benefit, or if it elects to cover a community support, to contract with community providers, as defined, that can demonstrate that they are capable of providing access and meeting quality requirements in accordance with Medi-Cal guidelines. In determining which community providers to contract with, the bill would authorize Medi-Cal managed care plans to take into consideration whether those providers are available in the respective county and have experience in providing the applicable ECM or community support. The bill would require the department, for purposes of enforcing these provisions, to require Medi-Cal managed care plans to set goals every other year for the level of contracting and utilization of community providers and local entities, as defined. The bill would require these goals to be established in consultation with the department, as specified. If a community provider contracted to provide ECM services or community supports submits a referral or authorization request for the applicable service on behalf of an eligible member, the bill would require a Medi-Cal managed care plan to assign the member to the contracted referring provider if the plan determines that the provider can appropriately meet the needs of the member. The bill would prohibit the above-described provisions from being construed to limit the department's authority to grant eligibility for presumptive authorization for categories of ECM providers that have extensive experience and expertise in serving certain ECM populations of focus. Existing law requires the department to develop, in consultation with Medi-Cal managed care plans and other appropriate stakeholders, a monitoring plan and reporting template for the implementation of ECM or community supports. Existing law requires the department to annually publish a public report on reported ECM or community support utilization data, populations served, and demographic data, stratified by age, sex, race, ethnicity, and languages spoken, to the extent that statistically reliant data are available. This bill would expressly include providers of ECM or community supports within the consultation process. The bill would require the department to publish the public report on a quarterly basis instead and would require additional demographic data. The bill would also require the department to develop standardized and streamlined templates to be used by Medi-Cal managed care plans or their contracted providers, as specified, and to develop guidance to allow community providers to act as a primary subcontractor with Medi-Cal managed care plans and to subcontract with other community providers as a 3rd-tier subcontractor, as specified.
Existing law authorizes the court to grant pretrial diversion to a defendant diagnosed with a mental disorder if the defendant satisfies certain eligibility requirements and if the court determines that the defendant is suitable for diversion. Existing law defines "pretrial diversion" as the postponement of prosecution to allow the defendant to undergo mental health treatment, subject to certain requirements, such as the court is satisfied that the recommended program will meet the specialized needs of the defendant, among others. Existing law provides that a defendant is suitable for pretrial diversion if certain criteria are met, including that the defendant agrees to comply with the treatment as a condition of diversion and they will not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety, among others. Existing law defines "unreasonable risk of danger to public safety" as an unreasonable risk that the defendant will commit a new violent felony, as specified. This bill would additionally require that the defendant agree that the recommended treatment plan will meet their specialized needs and would redefine "pretrial diversion" to require that the court is also satisfied that the recommended program is consistent with the underlying purpose of mental health diversion, as described. The bill would state that, notwithstanding the court's determination whether a defendant may pose an unreasonable risk that the defendant will commit a new violent felony, the court retains discretion to deny pretrial diversion if it concludes that the defendant poses an unreasonable risk to the physical safety of another.
