The Week Ahead
The Senate Appropriations Committee will consider a bill (AB 749) by Assembly member Patty Berg (D-Santa Rosa) to authorize residential care facilities for the elderly to admit hospice patients and treat bedridden patients indefinitely.
The Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee is scheduled to debate legislation (AB 329) by Assembly member Alan Nakanashi (R-Lodi) that would require the Medical Board of California to create a pilot program to expand telemedicine services and examine how to use health information technology to treat chronic illnesses.
The Assembly Health Committee will consider:
- SB 137 by Sen. Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) that would expand eligibility for a state program that provides health care coverage to children with severe chronic diseases or physical disabilities; and
- SB 120 by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Van Nuys) to require food establishments statewide to post nutrition information on menus.
The Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee will consider a measure (AB 537) by Assembly member Sandre Swanson (D-Oakland) to expand the provisions for employees to seek medical leave.
The Senate Health Committee will consider:
- AB 1324, by Assembly member Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate), which would bar health insurers from revoking or modifying a policy after a member had undergone treatment for a condition;
- AB 34 by Assembly member Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena) to create a state-run collection program for umbilical cord blood; and
- AB 1057 by Assembly member Jim Beall (D-San Jose) to require the Department of Public Health to develop a strategic plan for encouraging adoption of electronic health records.
