The regular legislative session ended on August 31st – and a first extraordinary session was opened. The regular new legislative session will begin December 2nd, after the November election. This session a number of important bills impacting public health/safety came before the Assembly Health Committee, where I serve as Vice Chair.
Among these are AB 1233, a bill I introduced to help deal with the epidemic of overdose deaths sweeping the state. The bill will help ensure that each tribal nation in California has naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist available to prevent overdose deaths. I also joined Senator Kelly Seyarto of Murrieta as a co-author for SB 67, which requires coroners to report overdose deaths to the National Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program, a tool that enhances local efforts to mobilize an immediate response when overdose deaths suddenly spike. I also supported SB 1320 (Senator Aisha Wahab) which requires health care plans to reimburse medical providers who treat substance use disorders when treatments are integrated into primary care services. I’m happy to report that all three bills have been signed into law by the Governor.
As of this writing, bills still awaiting the Governor’s signature include AB 2081 (Assemblymember Laurie Davies) which requires operators of licensed alcoholism and drug abuse recovery facilities to inform customers/patients that any possible violations by the facility can be checked on the Department of Health Care Services website. Another bill, AB 1936 (Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes) requires health care plans to provide at least one maternal mental health screening during pregnancy, and another during the first six weeks of the postpartum period. I also supported AB 2467 (Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan) which requires healthcare plans to cover medically necessary treatments for premenopause and menopause.
These are just a few of the healthcare-related bills that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support this session. The Governor will have until September 30th to sign or veto all legislation received prior to adjournment.
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.