Overview
The 2025-26 legislative session reconvened on Jan. 6. The deadline to introduce bills is Feb. 21.
Budget 1
ACA 1 (Valencia, D-Anaheim)
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Introduced on Dec. 2.
ACA 1 would allow for increasing state budget reserves into the Budget Stabilization Account and exempting those funds from the state appropriations limits. Increased budget reserves would potentially protect Medi-Cal from cuts during difficult fiscal years.
Civil Actions/Tort Reform 1
SB 29 (Laird, D-Santa Cruz)
Oppose
Introduced on Dec. 2. To be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
SB 29 would make permanent the ability for a decedent’s estate to recover for non-economic damages (pain and suffering).
Emergency Services 3
AB 40 (Bonta, D-Oakland)
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Introduced on Dec. 2. To be heard in the Assembly Health Committee.
AB 40 would add “reproductive health services, including abortion,” to the definition of “emergency services and care” under the Health and Safety Code. Per the state’s laws governing the provision of emergency services, health facilities must provide “emergency services and care” to determine if an emergency medical condition or active labor exists. CHA is working with the author’s office on amendments to ensure that non-emergency reproductive health services are not included in this definition.
AB 290 (Bauer-Kahan, D-San Ramon)
Oppose
Introduced on Jan. 22. To be heard in the Assembly Health and Judiciary committees.
AB 290 would make significant changes to California’s emergency services and care laws, including substantially increasing fines and civil penalties for various actions relating to emergency services and care, currently ranging from $1,000-$25,000, to a maximum of $1 million per violation. The bill would also eliminate both the current prohibition on duplicating federal fines, meaning hospitals could face both state and federal penalties for the same violation, as well as the cumulative maximum limit of $30,000 for state and federal fines for the same circumstances. Additionally, the bill would allow district attorneys or the attorney general to recover civil penalties of up to $1 million per violation of an injunction against noncompliance. It would also allow individuals and medical facilities suing a hospital for a violation of this article to recover punitive damages in addition to other allowed damages. The bill also removes citizenship and preexisting medical conditions from the list of protected characteristics for emergency services.
AB 447 (M. González, D-Los Angeles)
Under Review
Introduced on Feb. 6.
AB 447 would allow physicians or authorized prescribers to dispense an unused portion of a non-controlled medication to an emergency department (ED) patient upon discharge if all of the following conditions are met: the drug is not a controlled substance, the medication was previously ordered and administered to the patient during their ED visit, and dispensing the remaining portion is necessary to continue the patient’s treatment.
Government Payers 4
AB 4 (Arambula, D-Fresno)
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Introduced on Dec. 2. To be heard in the Assembly Health Committee.
AB 4 would require the California Health Benefit Exchange to design a program, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to allow individuals to obtain coverage regardless of immigration status.
AB 220 (Jackson, D-Moreno Valley)
Support
Introduced on Jan. 8. To be heard in the Assembly Health Committee.
AB 220 would mandate health facilities that provide pediatric or adult subacute care to include a standardized form with treatment authorization requests, preventing Medi-Cal managed care plans from imposing their own criteria for determining medical necessity outside of what is required in those standardized forms.
AB 278 (Ransom, D-Stockton)
Support
Introduced on Jan. 21. To be heard in the Assembly Health Committee.
AB 278 would require the Health Care Affordability Board to establish a Patient Advocate Advisory Standing Committee by June 1, 2026, that is required to publicly meet and advise the board, focusing on obstacles to accessing quality health care and recommendations for improving quality and access to health care for patients with specified conditions while improving affordability.
SB 246 (Grove, R-Bakersfield)
Under Review
Introduced on Jan. 30.
SB 246, sponsored by the District Hospital Leadership Forum, would establish a Medi-Cal graduate medical education program for district hospitals.
Health Facilities 4
AB 92 (Gallagher, R-Chico)
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Introduced on Jan. 6. To be heard in the Assembly Health Committee.
AB 92 would require health facilities to allow visits from specified family members unless they pose health or safety risks or disrupt operations, or if the patient objects. In end-of-life situations, in-person visitation cannot be prohibited unless the patient refuses, but visitors would be required to adhere to the same personal protective equipment and testing protocols as staff. Facilities would be allowed to impose reasonable restrictions on visitation — such as limits on hours, age, and number of visitors — but would be required to develop alternate protocols to maximize visitation during health or safety concerns. This bill is similar to AB 2549 (Gallagher, 2024), for which CHA was successful in negotiating amendments to address concerns. AB 2549 was vetoed by the governor.
AB 356 (Patel, D-San Diego)
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Introduced on Jan. 30.
AB 356 is a placeholder bill to address the author’s concerns about health facility fees that are billed to patients when they receive a service at a hospital — but may not be charged when the same service is provided at a medical office building.
SB 32 (Weber Pierson, D-San Diego)
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Introduced on Dec. 2. Pending a policy committee assignment by the Senate Rules Committee.
SB 32 is a placeholder bill from Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, MD, to address the closure of maternity wards across the state. CHA is working closely with Dr. Weber’s office to propose solutions and provide education on the complex factors contributing to maternity ward closures from a hospital perspective.
SB 81 (Arreguín, D-Oakland)
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Introduced on Jan. 17. Pending a policy committee assignment by the Senate Rules Committee.
SB 81 is a placeholder bill by Sen. Jesse Arreguín to prohibit health facilities from collaborating with, providing access to, or providing information about patients to immigration authorities. CHA is working closely with Sen. Arreguin’s office to ensure the proposal not only aligns with existing laws and current hospital practices, but also eases implementation for hospitals.
Health Insurance 2
AB 280 (Aguiar-Curry, D-Davis)
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Introduced on Jan 21. To be heard in the Assembly Health Committee.
AB 280 would require a plan or insurer to annually verify and delete inaccurate listings from its provider directories and would require a provider directory to be 60% accurate on July 1, 2026, with increasing percentage accuracy benchmarks required to be met each year until the directories are 95% accurate by July 1, 2029. The bill would subject a plan or insurer to administrative penalties for failure to meet the prescribed benchmarks. The bill would require a plan or insurer to provide coverage for all covered health care services provided to an enrollee or insured who reasonably relied on inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading information contained in a provider directory and to reimburse the provider the out-of-network amount for those services.
AB 384 (Connolly, D-San Rafael)
Under Review
Introduced on Feb. 3.
AB 384 would prohibit health care service plans, including Medi-Cal managed care plans, from requiring prior authorization for mental health and substance use disorder patients.
Labor and Employment 1
AB 340 (Ahrens, D-Cupertino)
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Introduced on Jan. 28.
AB 340 would prohibit a public agency employer from asking any employee or their union representative about communications concerning workplace matters that are made in confidence between the employee and their representative.
Mental Health 1
AB 416 (Krell, D-Sacramento)
Under Review
Introduced on Feb. 5.
AB 416 would add emergency physicians to the list of individuals who are authorized to place people who are gravely disabled or are a danger to self or others on a 72-hour hold. The bill would also exempt an emergency physician who is responsible for detaining a person under those provisions from criminal and civil liability.
Rural Issues 1
AB 257 (Flora, R-Ripon)
Under Review
Introduced on Jan. 16. To be heard in the Assembly Health Committee.
AB 257 would establish a demonstration project, working with the Department of Health Care Access and Information and the Department of Health Care Services, for a telehealth and other virtual services specialty care network focused on increasing access to behavioral and maternal health services in rural areas.