political pulse
Jeff Luther, MD, FAAFP Chair, Legislative Affairs Committee
It’s the Final Countdown California’s legislative session concluded September 1st with lawmakers rushing to pass hundreds of remaining bills before the clock struck midnight on August 31st. After both houses approve a bill, it goes to the Governor. The Governor has three choices - sign the bill into law, allow it to become law without his or her signature, or veto it. Most bills go into effect on the first day of January the following year. Urgency measures take effect immediately after they are signed or allowed to become law without signature. At the time of drafting this article, the Governor had already signed into law the following CAFP-supported bills. All bills on which CAFP has taken a position fit under one of CAFP’s strategic goals – advance payment reform and system transformation; raise the profile of family medicine; prioritize justice through diversity, equity, and inclusion; and alleviate burnout and support member wellness and joy in medicine. • AB 35 (Reyes D) Civil damages: medical malpractice. AB 35 keeps California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act’s (MICRA) essential guardrails solidly in place for patients and providers alike while implementing a predictable increase to limits on non-economic damages in medical negligence cases starting January 1, 2023, with gradual increases thereafter. AB 35 also establishes new protections for all pre-litigation expressions of sympathy, regret, or benevolence, including statements of fault. AB 35 precluded a costly ballot initiative – the so-called “Fairness for Injured Patients Act” – which would have effectively eliminated MICRA’s cap on non-economic damages and at least doubled malpractice premiums overnight. • AB 2176 (Wood D) Live birth registration. This bill relates to CAFP’s strategic goal of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Many Native tribes hold a sacred ceremony to name a child on the tenth day of life, and some Rancherias and tribes hold the naming ceremony later than that, but current law requires a hospital to submit a baby’s birth certificate to the local registrar/health department within ten days, which places undue pressure on Native families to provide 10
California Family Physician Autumn 2022
information to the hospital on the very day they are holding a naming ceremony for their new child. This bill addresses this issue by extending the time, from ten days to 21 days, by which live births are required to be registered with the local registrar. • AB 2585 (McCarty D) Health care coverage: nonpharmacological pain management treatment. This bill encourages the use of evidence-based nonpharmacological therapies for pain management. • SB 245 (Gonzalez D) Health care coverage: abortion services: cost sharing. This bill prohibits cost-sharing, restrictions, delays, prior authorization, and annual or lifetime limits on all abortion services, including follow-up services. • SB 872 (Dodd D) Pharmacies: mobile units. This bill authorizes a county, city and county, or special hospital authority to operate a licensed mobile unit to provide prescription medication to individuals, including those individuals without fixed addresses, within the county’s jurisdiction and specifies certain criteria that a mobile unit must meet. We are still awaiting action on several more CAFPsupported bills listed below. Access and Equity • AB 32 (Aguiar-Curry D) Telehealth. • AB 498 (Quirk-Silva D) Medi-Cal: county organized health system: Orange County Health Authority. • AB 2352 (Nazarian D) Prescription drug coverage. • AB 1930 (Arambula D) Medi-Cal: comprehensive perinatal services. • SB 838 (Pan D) Insulin Manufacturing. • SB 944 (Pan D) California Health Benefit Exchange: affordability assistance. • SB 974 (Portantino D) Health Care Coverage: Diagnostic Imaging • SB 1234 (Pan D) Family Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment Program. continued on page 12
