Healthcare

Existing federal law, the Community First Choice Option (CFCO) program, authorizes states to provide home- and community-based attendant services and supports to eligible Medicaid enrollees, as specified. Existing federal law provides federal financial participation for a state that provides services under the CFCO program. Existing state law establishes the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, administered by the State Department of Social Services and counties, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes. Existing law requires the state and counties to share the annual cost of providing IHSS pursuant to a specified cost ratio. Existing law requires all counties to have a rebased County IHSS Maintenance of Effort (MOE) and requires the rebased MOE to be adjusted for the annualized cost of increases in provider wages, health benefits, or other benefits, as prescribed. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2026, requires a county to pay, separate from the rebased County IHSS MOE payment, a 100% share of the enhanced federal financial participation that would have been received if the state ceases to receive that funding for the provision of services due to noncompliance of timely case reassessment for the federal CFCO program. This bill would require the department to, on or before July 1, 2029, prepare and submit to the Legislature a report on the amount of the above-described payments made by counties due to noncompliance of timely case reassessment for the federal CFCO program.

This measure would designate February 28, 2026, as Rare Disease Day and, with respect to rare diseases and disorders, would recognize the importance of improving awareness, encouraging accurate and early diagnosis, and supporting national and global efforts to develop effective treatments, diagnostics, and cures.

This bill is a symbolic resolution that expresses the Legislature's commitment to leading the nation in evidence-based brain safety for youth athletes. It does not create new laws, change existing regulations, or allocate funding, but rather serves as an official statement of support for addressing chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The measure is currently in the legislative process and has been referred to a committee for further review.

This Senate Resolution designates May 2026 as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month in California to highlight the challenges faced by individuals with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The measure calls on the public and government officials to support research funding, advocate for better access to medical equipment, and stand in solidarity with patients and their families. While the resolution does not change laws or allocate specific funds, it serves to raise awareness about the disease's impact and the need for continued clinical trials and treatment development.

Existing law establishes the Office of Rural Health within the California Health and Human Services Agency to promote a strong working relationship between state government and local and federal agencies, universities, private and public interest groups, rural consumers, health care providers, foundations, and other offices of rural health, as well as to develop health initiatives and maximize the use of existing resources without duplicating existing effort. Existing law requires the office to serve as a key information and referral source to promote coordinated planning for the delivery of health services in rural California. This bill would require the office to develop and administer, upon appropriation by the Legislature, a competitive grant program for the delivery of, or the support, sustenance, or expansion of the delivery of, medical services, as defined, to individuals who reside in rural areas, as defined. The bill would authorize the office upon that appropriation to expend up to $3,000,000 annually and would authorize a qualified provider, as defined, to apply to the office once per year for a grant of up to $10,000 for those purposes. The bill would require the office to establish specified standards and procedures, including criteria and standards for eligibility and the measurement of outcomes achieved, and, on or before January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to publish this information on its internet website.

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 and other drug programs, as specified. This bill would require an alcohol or other drug treatment facility and an alcohol or other drug program to participate in a public consumer protection platform, as defined, designated or designed by the department in order to be licensed or certified. The bill would specify that participation in the public consumer protection platform pursuant to these provisions is only required if the department determines that sufficient funding has been appropriated or otherwise secured to cover the costs of participation in the platform, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to charge a reasonable fee to alcohol or other drug treatment facilities and alcohol or other drug programs required to enroll in the platform, as specified, and would prohibit the administrator of the public consumer protection platform from accepting payment from the entities subject to these provisions. The bill would authorize the department to verify compliance with participation in the public consumer protection platform as part of the certification or licensing process. The bill would prohibit participation in the consumer protection platform from being used as a criterion in evaluating bids, proposals, network participation, reimbursement, or contract performance for publicly funded substance use disorder treatment services. The bill would require the consumer protection platform, if managed by an entity other than the department, to collect and publicly display information from each participating treatment provider on the provider's adoption of evidence-based practices in substance use disorder care, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific those provisions by means of provider bulletins, written guidelines, or similar instructions.

Existing law, the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) , generally prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, or a contractor from disclosing medical information regarding a patient, enrollee, or subscriber without first obtaining an authorization, unless a specified exception applies. Existing law makes a violation of the CMIA that results in economic loss or personal injury to a patient punishable as a misdemeanor. Existing law requires specified businesses that electronically store or maintain medical information on the provision of sensitive services on behalf of a provider of health care, health care service plan, pharmaceutical company, contractor, or employer to develop capabilities, policies, and procedures, on or before July 1, 2024, to enable certain security features, including limiting user access privileges and segregating medical information related to gender affirming care, abortion and abortion-related services, and contraception, as specified. This bill would also require those specified businesses to enable the above-specified capabilities, policies, and procedures for those security features, as specified. Because the bill would expand the scope of an existing crime, it 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 pharmacy benefit manager contracting with a health care service plan or health insurer to secure a license from the Department of Managed Health Care on or after January 1, 2027, or the date on which the department has established the licensure process, whichever is later. This bill would require the department to maintain a public internet website displaying specified information for each licensed pharmacy benefit manager, including, among other things, the legal name, license number, and license expiration date.

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 through fee-for-service (FFS) or managed care delivery systems. The Medi-Cal program is in part governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, pharmacist services are a benefit under the Medi-Cal program, subject to federal approval, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to provide and administer Medi-Cal pharmacy services under a single statewide FFS delivery system, commonly known as the Medi-Cal Rx program. The department has implemented a transition of Medi-Cal pharmacy services, through Medi-Cal Rx, from managed care to FFS as a result of a 2019 executive order by the Governor. This bill would require the department to issue guidance clarifying Medi-Cal managed care plan obligations to cover pharmacist services, as specified. The bill would require the department to update its model evidence of coverage to explicitly include coverage of pharmacist services. The bill would also require the department to take appropriate corrective action for failure to comply with existing provisions of law relating to Medi-Cal coverage of pharmacist services or the issued guidance. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific these provisions by means of all-plan letters, plan letters, or other similar instructions, without taking any further regulatory action.

Existing law, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Disparities Reduction Act, requires the State Department of Public Health, among other specified state entities, in the course of collecting demographic data directly or by contract as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians, to collect voluntary self-identification information pertaining to sexual orientation, gender identity, and variations in sex characteristics/intersex status (SOGISC) . This bill would define "information pertaining to SOGISC" to mean information pertaining to a person's sexual orientation identity, gender identity, identification as intersex, or identification as possessing sex characteristics that vary from those typically associated with a person's sex assigned at birth. Existing law, the Information Practices Act of 1977, prescribes a set of requirements, prohibitions, and remedies applicable to agencies, as defined, with regard to their collection, storage, and disclosure of personal information, as defined. Under existing law, a person who willfully requests or obtains any record containing personal information from an agency under false pretenses is guilty of a misdemeanor. Existing law establishes the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law requests the Trustees of the California State University, the Regents of the University of California, and the governing board of each community college district to allow the faculty, staff, and students to identify their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression on any forms used to collect specified demographic data and to report that data, as provided. This bill would prohibit information pertaining to SOGISC collected pursuant to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Disparities Reduction Act, or collected by public postsecondary education institutions in accordance with the above paragraph, from being disclosed in a manner allowing personal identification to any entity outside of California state or local government, or an authorized agency thereof, subject to specified exceptions, and would require information pertaining to SOGISC reported in an identifiable form to be limited to the minimal extent required to meet the applicable exception, and in compliance with the Information Practices Act of 1977. The bill would require state entities under these provisions, after notifying the Legislature that the entity has the necessary automation capabilities, to share information pertaining to SOGISC in accordance with specified requirements when state and federal programs share systems or intake processes and that information is required for federal program participation. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to comply with these provisions as early as possible following the notification set forth above, but no later than January 1, 2028. The bill would provide that these provisions also apply to information that could reasonably be used to infer a person's transgender or intersex status, as specified, and a that violation of these provisions is subject to penalties described in the Information Practices Act of 1977. By expanding the scope of a crime in the Information Practices Act of 1977, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires each state and local agency, as defined, to make its records open to public inspection at all times during office hours, except as specifically exempted from disclosure by law. This bill would provide, subject to specified exceptions, that information pertaining to SOGISC is confidential and shall be exempt from disclosure by specified state entities under the California Public Records Act, unless the information pertaining to SOGISC is deidentified, or disclosed in accordance with the Information Practices Act of 1977. This bill would provide that its provisions are severable. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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.