New Health Care-Related Measures Set to Take Effect in California Jan. 1

Summaries of some health-related measures taking effect in 2008 appear below.

• AB 34 by Assembly member Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena) will establish an umbilical cord blood collection program (McGreevy, Los Angeles Times, 1/1);
• AB 110 by John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) permits the use of state HIV prevention funds to buy clean syringes for needle-exchange programs (Sanders, Sacramento Bee, 1/1);
• AB 682 by Assembly member Patty Berg (D-Eureka) will include HIV tests as part of routine medical exams, eliminating a requirement for physicians to obtain written consent to run the test;
• AB 949 by Assembly member Paul Krekorian (D-Burbank) will require nursing homes to notify residents 60 days in advance of closure and make relocation plans for every resident (Los Angeles Times, 1/1);
• SB 7 by Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach) will levy a $100 fine against drivers or passengers caught smoking in a vehicle with children under the age of 18 present;
• SB 443 by Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) allows an HIV-positive man to use reproductive medical services to inseminate his wife or partner if a new technology to reduce the chance of HIV infection is used (Chorneau, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/2);
• SB 850 by Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) requires counties to issue certificates of stillbirth for deaths that occur after a fetus reaches 20 weeks gestation (Sacramento Bee, 1/1); and
• SB 962 by Migden will require that pregnant women receive information about options for donating umbilical cord blood (Los Angeles Times, 1/1).

KQED's "The California Report" on Tuesday reported on the vehicle smoking ban. The segment includes comments from Oropeza (Keith, "The California Report," KQED, 1/1).

Audio of the complete program is available online.