Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of health facilities by the State Department of Public Health and generally makes a violation of those provisions a crime. 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 generally makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law requires a health facility to provide emergency services and care upon request for any condition in which the person is in danger of loss of life or serious injury or illness. Existing law requires a health care service plan to reimburse providers for emergency services and care. Existing law defines "emergency services and care" for these purposes to mean medical screening, examination, and evaluation by a physician and surgeon, or other appropriate licensed persons under the supervision of a physician and surgeon, to determine if an emergency medical condition or active labor exists and, if it does, the care, treatment, and surgery, if within the scope of that person's license, necessary to relieve or eliminate the emergency medical condition, within the capability of the facility, among other things. This bill would specify that the above-described provisions would not require physician supervision of a licensed nurse-midwife in the labor and delivery unit, obstetric triage, or dedicated emergency obstetric evaluation unit, when the nurse-midwife is providing care to the extent authorized by, and consistent with, specified licensing and certification provisions, or when the nurse-midwife is specifically requested by the treating physician and surgeon to provide obstetric consultation. By changing the scope of a crime, this 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 authorizes designated health care services providers, employees, volunteers, and patients, and individuals who face threats of violence or violence or harassment from the public because of their affiliation with a designated health care services facility, to complete an application to be approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of enabling state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing a program participant's residence address contained in any public record and otherwise provide for confidentiality of identity for that person, subject to specified conditions. Existing law defines "designated health care services" to mean gender-affirming health care services or reproductive health care services. Under existing law, any person who makes a false statement in an application is guilty of a misdemeanor. Existing law prohibits a person, business, or association from knowingly publicly posting or publicly displaying, disclosing, or distributing on internet websites or on social media, the personal information or image of any designated health care services patient, provider, or assistant, or other individuals residing at the same home address, with the intent to incite a third person to cause imminent great bodily harm to the person identified in the posting or display, or to a coresident of that person, as specified, or to threaten the person identified in the posting or display, or a coresident of that person, as specified. Existing law additionally prohibits a person, business, or association from soliciting, selling, or trading on the internet or social media the personal information or image of a designated health care services patient, provider, or assistant with the intent described above. Existing law establishes a cause of action for injunctive or declarative relief for a violation of these prohibitions. Existing law prohibits a person from posting on the internet or social media, with the intent that another person imminently use that information to commit a crime involving violence or a threat of violence against a designated health care services patient, provider, or assistant, or other individuals residing at the same home address, the personal information or image of a reproductive health care services patient, provider, or assistant, or other individuals residing at the same home address. This bill would, commencing October 1, 2027, similarly establish an address confidentiality program for a designated immigration support services provider, employee, or volunteer, as defined, who faces threats of violence or harassment from the public because of their affiliation with a designated immigration support services facility. This bill would additionally prohibit a person, business, or association from soliciting, selling, or trading on the internet the personal information or image of a designated immigration support services provider, employee, or volunteer with the intent described above. The bill would also, among other things, prohibit a person from posting on the internet the personal information or image of a designated immigration support services provider, employee, or volunteer, or other individuals residing at the same home address, with the specific intent that another person imminently use that information to commit a crime involving violence or a threat of violence that is likely to occur against such an individual. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. By imposing new duties on local agencies and creating new crimes, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. 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 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 California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law requires, on and after January 1, 2023, a student health center on a California State University or University of California campus to offer abortion by medication techniques, as specified. Existing law establishes the College Student Health Center Sexual and Reproductive Health Preparation Fund to be administered by the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and continuously appropriates the moneys in that fund to the commission for specified activities related to providing abortion by medication techniques at student health centers. This bill would require a student health center on a California State University or University of California campus, on or before January 1, 2028, to promote awareness of the services for abortion by medication techniques that the student health center offers, provide information on those services to students, and post the availability of those services on its internet website. This bill would require a community college that has a student health center, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to, on and after January 1, 2029, offer access to abortion by medication techniques, promote awareness of those services, provide information on those services to students, and post the availability of those services on its internet website. The bill would require the commission to submit a report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2030, that includes, but is not limited to, specified information relating to abortion by medication techniques at or through community college student health centers. The bill would require the commission, in consultation with the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, to develop a standardized reporting framework that minimizes administrative burden and protects student privacy. The bill would authorize funds appropriated for these provisions to be used for implementation readiness activities and ongoing operational costs, as specified.
Existing law establishes the Department of Health Care Access and Information to oversee and administer various health programs, including, among others, the California Reproductive Health Equity Program. Under existing law, this program provides grant funding to safety net providers of abortion and contraception services to offset the costs of providing uncompensated care to patients with low incomes who would otherwise lack access to care. Existing law establishes the California Reproductive Health Equity Fund, and, within the limits of funds available, authorizes the department to award grants that, in the department's judgment, best promote the purposes of the program. This bill would establish the Safe Delivery Fund Pilot Program, until January 1, 2030, which would be administered by the department to provide funding to hospitals to offset uncompensated standby costs associated with maintaining specialty physician coverage, advanced practice provider coverage, and hospital staffing necessary to safely provide deliveries and related inpatient specialty services. The bill would require a hospital to meet specified requirements to qualify for the program, including, among other things, that the hospital can demonstrate that the hospital serves a geographically isolated population and that loss of obstetric services would significantly impact access to maternity care. This bill would establish the Safe Delivery Fund, and would require moneys in the fund to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for the purposes of the program. The bill would require the hospital to use the funds from the program for salaries, benefits, insurance, contracted physician compensation, contracted advanced practice provider compensation, or other expenses attributable to maintaining standby clinical capacity. The bill would require the program to reimburse a hospital quarterly based on the number of deliveries performed per day using a specified schedule. The bill would prohibit the department from awarding a hospital more than $5,000,000 per year. This bill would require a participating hospital, by April 1, 2027, and quarterly thereafter, to submit to the department specified data, including, among other things, maintenance of specialty staffing and service availability. The bill would authorize the department to conduct annual audits or program reviews, as specified. The bill would require a hospital to meet all of the program requirements for continued participation in the 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 establishes a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for various services, including comprehensive perinatal services and federally qualified health center (FQHC) and rural health clinic (RHC) services, that are rendered by Medi-Cal enrolled providers. Under existing law, FQHCs and RHCs receive a per-visit prospective payment system (PPS) rate for each visit. Existing law establishes the Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program, the goals of which are to decrease and maintain the decreased level of perinatal, maternal, and infant mortality and morbidity in the State of California and to support methods of providing comprehensive prenatal care that prevent prematurity and the incidence of low birth weight infants. Under the program, the State Department of Public Health is required to develop and maintain a statewide comprehensive community-based perinatal services program and enter into contracts, grants, or agreements with health care providers to deliver these services in a coordinated effort. Existing law also requires the department to monitor the delivery of services under those contracts, grants, and agreements through a uniform health data collection system that utilizes epidemiologic methodology. This bill would instead require the State Department of Health Care Services to oversee a statewide comprehensive community-based perinatal services program and enroll health care providers to deliver these services to Medi-Cal members and make conforming changes, but would maintain the State Department of Public Health's role with related contracts, grants, and agreements. The bill would specify that any participation by the State Department of Public Health does not change the State Department of Health Care Services' authority to implement comprehensive community-based perinatal services for purposes of the Medi-Cal program. By January 1, 2028, the bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, to clarify each department's roles and responsibilities regarding comprehensive perinatal services by regulation. The bill would, among other things, require the State Department of Health Care Services to develop informational and educational materials on comprehensive perinatal services by January 1, 2028, and require all Medi-Cal managed care plans to disseminate the materials, as specified. The bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services, no later than July 15, 2027, to submit to the Assembly Committee on Health and the Senate Committee on Health, and post on its internet website, a report that identifies the number of pregnant and postpartum individuals that received comprehensive perinatal services from January 1, 2022, to January 1, 2025, inclusive. The bill would also require the State Department of Health Care Services, commencing July 15, 2028, and every 3 years thereafter, to submit to those committees, and post on its internet website, a report that identify the number of pregnant and postpartum individuals that received and were offered comprehensive perinatal services during the previous 3 calendar years. This bill would require a Medi-Cal managed care plan to inform each Medi-Cal member treated during the perinatal period regarding the availability of and access to comprehensive perinatal services.
Existing law sets forth provisions, under the California Constitution, regarding the fundamental right to choose to have an abortion. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a pregnant person's right to choose or obtain an abortion prior to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person. This bill, the Access to Safe Abortion Care Act, would make legislative findings about medication abortion, with a focus on use of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol. Under the bill, the Legislature would reaffirm that it has been, and would continue to be, lawful to cause the delivery of, or mail, ship, take, receive, or otherwise transport, any drug, medicine, or instrument that can be designed or adapted to produce an abortion that is lawful in the State of California. The bill would set forth provisions regarding the lack of civil or criminal liability, or professional disciplinary action, for accessing or administering brand name or generic mifepristone or any drug used for medication abortion that is lawful under the laws of the state, on or after January 1, 2020, with this provision applied retroactively, as specified. The bill would make its provisions severable.
Existing law, the California Healthy Youth Act, requires school districts, charter schools, county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, and the California School for the Blind to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education, as specified. The act requires that instruction to include, among other things, information about the effectiveness and safety of all federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -approved contraceptive methods in preventing pregnancy, including, but not limited to, emergency contraception, and requires instruction on pregnancy to include an objective discussion of all legally available pregnancy outcomes, including, but not limited to, parenting, adoption, and abortion. This bill would require the discussion of adoption to include a comprehensive explanation of, and information on, the types of adoption, the rights of a placing birth parent, and specific local adoption resources and support. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, 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.
(1) Existing law, the California Healthy Youth Act, requires school districts, defined to include county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and charter schools, to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education, as specified. This bill would authorize the State Department of Education to monitor compliance with the requirements of the California Healthy Youth Act as part of its annual compliance monitoring of state and federal programs. (2) Existing law establishes the Office of School-Based Health Programs for the purpose of assisting local educational agencies regarding the current health-related programs under the purview of the State Department of Education including, among other duties, coordinating school health program activities with public health, social services, environmental, and local educational agencies, and other public and private entities. This bill would prohibit a local educational agency, as defined, from prohibiting school-based health centers, as defined, that serve schools of the local educational agency from making internal and external condoms available and easily accessible to pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, at the school-based health center site and would require a school of a local educational agency to allow condoms to be made available to pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, during the course of, or in connection with, educational or public health programs and initiatives, as provided. To the extent the bill imposes additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Under existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, the State Department of Public Health generally regulates the packaging, labeling, advertising, and sale of food, drugs, devices, and cosmetics, in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. A violation of those provisions is generally a crime. Existing law sets forth various other provisions relating to the furnishing and health care coverage of certain types of contraception. This bill would, with certain exceptions, prohibit a retail establishment, as defined, from refusing to furnish nonprescription contraception to a person solely on the basis of age by means of any conduct, including, but not limited to, requiring the customer to present identification for purposes of demonstrating their age. Under the bill, a violation of that prohibition would be exempt from the above-described criminal penalty. (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, 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.
Under the California Constitution, the state is prohibited from denying or interfering with an individual's reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, including their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a pregnant person's right to choose or obtain an abortion prior to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person. Existing law requires the California Health and Human Services Agency, or an entity designated by the agency, to establish an internet website where the public can find information on abortion services in the state. Existing law requires the internet website to include specified information and resources, including, among other things, the location of abortion providers and practical support services, as specified, to help a person access and obtain an abortion. Existing law requires the internet website to be updated every 6 months. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to partner with an organization, as specified, to update and maintain the above-described internet website. The bill would require the internet website to include additional information on sexual and reproductive health, including, among others, sexual and reproductive health information historically relied on and made available on federal internet websites, as specified. The bill would require the organization to recruit, form, and consult with a stakeholder workgroup and community workgroup, as specified, to determine and update the information and resources posted on the internet website. The bill would require the organization, in consultation with those workgroups, to review the information and resources on the internet website to ensure that it is current and updated at reasonable intervals, but no less than once every 3 months. The bill would require the department to ensure public awareness of the internet website, as specified. The bill would require the department to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on an annual basis that includes, at a minimum, information about the internet website's reach and impact. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, and the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as 2 of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law requires, on and after January 1, 2023, each student health center on a California State University or University of California campus to offer abortion by medication techniques, as specified. This bill would require a California State University campus, and would request a University of California campus, to provide adoption information to students in each location on campus where contraception and emergency contraception information is available, including when birth control and levonorgestrel are provided to students through the campus's student health center or pharmacy, as specified.
