Ombudsman, Immunization Bills Up for Floor Vote

Dozens of health-related bills passed through committee last week, setting up pending floor votes starting this week.

The last hurdle for many bills is the appropriations committee of each house. Those committees ran at high speed last week, churning out approvals for hundreds of bills.

The Legislature has until the end of August to vote on all bills.

Some of the health-related bills that cleared committee last week:

• SB 345 by Lois Wolk (D-Davis) proposes some reforms for the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, including a requirement to file an annual advocacy report.
• AB 2109  by Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) requires that parents who are considering the opt-out provision for their children’s immunizations must first meet with a provider to discuss the decision.
• AB 2266  by Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) requires the Department of Health Care Services to establish a program that provides home health services to frequent users of hospital services.
• AB 1000 by Henry Perea (D-Fresno) would require coverage of oral chemotherapy medication.
• AB 1846 by Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park) establishes a legal framework to set up Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (COOPs), as part of national health care reform.
• AB 2206 by Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) requires DHCS to make the PACE program a stated option for those in the dual-eligible pilot project.
• SB 255   by Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) requires coverage for lumpectomies for breast cancer patients.

Many bills were approved, but placed on appropriations’ suspense file. Those bills have higher costs, and are put on hold so the committee can get a sense of the aggregate cost of the big-ticket items before moving them out of appropriations.

Some of the high-profile health bills in this session are on hold, including proposed laws to establish the 10 essential health benefits for Health Benefit Exchange coverage, another to cover the cost of prescription drugs, one to make health and wellness programs a priority and health workforce development bill. Those are expected to come off of the suspense file by next week.