Healthcare legislation headway

As many of you know I have served on the Assembly Health Committee for most of my term in the State Legislature, and I am now the Committee’s Vice Chair. The Committee’s juris­diction includes healthcare, behavioral and mental health, medical insurance, Medi-Cal and other public healthcare programs, and long-term care licensing. The lives of millions of Californians are impacted by legislation that comes be­fore this committee.

For example, several impor­tant health-related bills were passed by the Committee on April 23rd. These include AB 2563 (Essayli) which requires the California Department of Public Health to expand its statewide screening of new­borns to include Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), one of the most severe forms of inherited muscular dystro­phies. Early diagnosis enables tailored care which can greatly enhance the quality and life potential for DMD patients.

AB 2467 (Bauer-Kahan), requires healthcare service plans and insurers to expand coverage to include hormone therapy and other services for women going through meno­pause or pre-menopause. And AB 2914 (Bonta) requires Cali­fornia to establish a new Es­sential Health Benefits (EH­Bs) benchmark plan by 2027. EHBs outline the minimum services required by health plans covering Californians.

We also passed AB 2115 (Haney) which authorizes non­profit or free clinics to update treatment for acute narcotic withdrawal symptoms in com­pliance with federal regula­tions. The bill’s supporters in­clude the County of San Diego.

AB 2786 (Bonta) will autho­rize mobile farmers’ markets to provide a variety of locally grown or produced healthy foods in conformance with the California Retail Food Code. Farmers’ markets can address food access issues by bringing fresh foods to underserved ar­eas.

These bills all passed unani­mously, and are a good ex­ample of how legislators from both sides of the aisle can come together on important issues that benefit all Californians.

Assemblymember Marie Wal­dron, R- Valley Center, repre­sents the 75th Assembly District in the California Legislature, which includes the cities of Po­way, Santee, portions of the City of San Diego, and most of rural eastern and northern San Diego County.