2008 Legislation
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Advocating for Consumers in Sacramento Legislative Information 2008 Legislation
This page was updated 04/25/08
For the most up-to-date information on any bill, go to www.leginfo.ca.gov
Governor's Decisions on 2005 Health Care Legislation
Governor's Decisions on 2006 Health Care Legislation
Governor's Decisions on 2007 Health Care Legislation
2008 Bills of Interest to California Health Advocates
- printable version - June 25, 2008
Health advocates are actively working on the following bills, which includes efforts to expand health care coverage and provide consumer protections for patients. Also listed is the position of Health Access California, the statewide health consumer advocacy coalition working for the goal of quality, affordable health care for all.
See also our 2007 Policy Recommendations
Insurer Regulations
Insurance Oversight & Market Reforms
SB 1522 (Steinberg) |
INSURANCE MARKET STANDARDS: Would sort health insurance policies into five coverage categories, ranging from “comprehensive’’ to “catastrophic.’’ Organization of plans into these categories would enable consumers to better track premium, benefits and cost-sharing, and assist consumers in making apples-to-apples comparisons between plans. Would weed out “junk’’ insurance by developing minimum benefit standards. |
Sponsor- Support |
AB 1554 (Jones)
|
RATE REGULATION: Would regulate insurance rates. |
Amend |
SB 1440 (Kuehl) |
CAPPING ADMINISTRATION AND PROFIT: Would set a minimum medical loss ratio -- requiring every insurer to spend at least 85 percent of premiums of patient care. |
Support |
Rescissions
AB 1150(Lieu) |
BONUSES: Would outlaw the practices of paying bonuses to insurance company employees when they rescind policies, setting targets for rescinded policies and/or setting financial goals based on savings on health care claims. |
Support |
AB 1945
(DeLaTorre) |
INDEPENDENT REVIEW: Would create an independent, third-party review process when an insurer wishes to rescind a consumer’s health policy and also require approval from the Department of Insurance and Department of Managed Health Care before approval. Would also standardize health plan questionnaires for consumers in the individual market. |
Support |
AB 2549
(Hayashi) |
TIME LIMIT: Would impose a six-month time limit in which insurers have to rescind individual health care policies for fraud once consumers’ applications are approved. |
Support |
Benefit Mandates
AB 1887
(Beall) |
MENTAL HEALTH PARITY: Would require health plans to provide coverage for all diagnosable mental illnesses |
Support |
AB 1962
(DeLaTorre) |
MATERNITY COVERAGE: Would require all individual insurance policies to cover maternity services. |
Support |
SB 1198 (Kuehl) |
DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT: Would require group health plans and insurers to offer coverage for durable medical equipment, such as wheelchairs and shower seats. |
Support |
Improved Insurance Options
| AB 2 (Dymally) |
HIGH-RISK POOL: Would reform the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Program, which provides coverage for “un-insureables” who have “pre-existing conditions.’’ Efforts would make the high risk pool more affordable and available. |
Support |
Health Care Providers
Transparency
| AB 2967 (Lieber) |
TRANSPARENCY AND DISCLOSURE: Would require public reporting of cost and quality by doctors, hospitals, HMOs and others in the health care industry |
Support |
SB 1300 (Corbett) |
CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSES: Would prohibit confidentiality clauses, which keep secret information on pricing and health care quality from consumers, in contracts between providers and insurers. |
Support |
Doctor and Hospital Oversight
| AB 2146 (Feuer) |
'NEVER EVENTS': Bans providers from billing patients or insurers when they have made an avoidable mistake, such as operating on the wrong person, prescribing the wrong drugs, or leaving foreign objects inside a surgery patient. |
Support |
AB 2942 (Ma) |
COMMUNITY BENEFITS: Would standardize what non-profit hospitals report as “community benefits” to justify their non-profit status. |
Support |
SB 1633 (Kuehl) |
PREDATORY LENDING: Would prohibit dentists’ offices from offering high-interest loans to patients while they are under the influence of anesthesia. Would also prohibit dental offices from charging lines of credit before services have been rendered. |
Support |
Hospital Transactions
| AB 2400 (Price) |
HOSPITAL CLOSURES: Would require public notice before closing a hospital. |
Support |
| AB 2697 (Huffman) |
BOUTIQUE HOSPITALS: Would require so-called "boutique hospitals" to assess their impact on a community's health system annually, specifically whether they siphon doctors, workers, providers from hospitals caring for less affluent populations. |
Support |
AB 2741
(Torrico)
|
HEALTH IMPACT ANALYSIS: Would require for profit hospital sales to undergo health impact analyses to gauge the transaction’s effects on the affected community, health care services, and the community’s public interest. |
Support |
SB 1351
(Corbett) |
OVERSIGHT: Would require Attorney General oversight into transactions involving district hospitals. |
Support |
Balance Billing
AB 1203
(Salas) |
EMERGENCY ROOM BILLS: Would prevent emergency departments – which do not have a contract with a patient’s insurance company -- from directly billing the patient for services, requiring the hospital to seek reimbursement directly from insurers. |
Support |
| AB 2220 (Jones) |
BINDING ARBITRATION: Requires providers and health plans to resolve contracting and payment disputes through binding arbitration. |
Watch |
SB 981
(Perata)
|
ER DOCTOR BILLS: Would prevent emergency physicians – who do not have a contract with a patient’s insurance company -- from directly billing the patient for services, requiring providers to seek reimbursement directly from insurers. |
Support |
Underserved Communities
AB 1472
(Leno) |
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: Would establish the California Healthy Places Act, and require diverse state agencies and departments to work together assess and reduce health disparities in underserved communities. |
Support |
AB 2902
(Swanson) |
COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS: Would require the Office of Multicultural Health to encourage the use of community-based health care workers to help facilitate and coordinate better health outcomes in underserved communities. |
Support |
AB 2842 (Berg)
|
UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES: Would protect Californians from insurance agents trying to sell them private Medicare plans through cold calls and bait-and-switch tactics. |
Support |
Coverage Expansions
Working Disabled
AB 851 (Brownley)
|
MEDI-CAL FOR WORKING DISABLED: Increases eligibility for those working with disabilities to buy Medi-Cal coverage through the Medi-Cal California Working Disabled Program. Also extends the program, which will sunset 9/1/08. |
Support |
Children's Coverage
AB 1
(Laird/Dymally)
SB 32
(Steinberg) |
UNIVERSAL CHILDREN'S COVERAGE: Would expand children’s coverage, including the Healthy Families program, to all children in families up to 300% of poverty ($49,800 for a family of 3). |
Support |
SB 1168 (Runner) |
DEPENDENT CARE: Would allow adult dependent children, who are still covered under their parents’ health plan, to stay on that coverage even if the child takes a medically necessary leave of absence from school.
|
Support |
Universal Coverage
SB 840 (Kuehl) |
SINGLE PAYER: Would establish a single-payer health care system in California that would enable all residents to have health coverage. |
Support |
For questions or an updated list, contact our policy coordinator in Sacramento, Hanh Kim Quach, at 916-497-0923, hquach@health-access.org.
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