SB144 - Health.

Amended IN Assembly September 09, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 144 Introduced by Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review January 23, 2025 An act relating to the Budget Act of 2025. An act to amend Sections 1246, 1300, 1300.1, 1625.6, 2473, 3041, and 3041.5 of, and to add Sections 901 and 4052.05 to, the Business and Professions Code, to amend Section 48980.4 of the Education Code, to amend Section 100520.5 of, and add Section 100503.6 to, the Government Code, to amend Sections 1206, 1261.3, 1342.2, 1342.3, 1347.8, 1367.002, 1367.3, 1367.35, 100425, 100450, 104151, 120372, 120372.05, 120392.2, 120392.3, 120392.6, 120392.9, 120393, 124981, and 124982 of, to amend, repeal, and add Sections 120336, 120390.6, and 120455 of, to add Sections 1797.11 and 120164 to, to add and repeal Chapter 6.1 (commencing with Section 127640) of Part 2 of Division 107 of, and to repeal Section 11756.8 of, the Health and Safety Code, to amend Sections 10110.7, 10110.75, 10112.2, 10123.5, and 10123.55 of the Insurance Code, to amend Section 30461.6 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, to amend Sections 5961.4, 11265.8, 14005.27, 14005.62, 14007.5, 14007.8, 14012.5, 14105.47, 14105.475, 14124.11, 14146, 14146.5, and 14501 of, to add Section 14132.995 to, and to repeal Sections 14007.95 and 14100.95 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, to amend Section 118 of Chapter 21 of the Statutes of 2025, and to repeal Section 34 of Chapter 80 of the Statutes of 2005, and Section 67 of Chapter 758 of the Statutes of 2008, relating to health, and making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill related to the budget. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 144, as amended, Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review. Budget Act of 2025. Health. (1) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various healing arts practitioners by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law provides an exemption from these requirements for a health care practitioner licensed in another state who offers or provides health care for which the practitioner is licensed during a state of emergency, as defined, and upon request of the Director of the Emergency Medical Services Authority, as specified. This bill would exempt health care practitioners licensed in another state, territory, or country from certain healing arts licensure, certification, or registration requirements, as described above, while providing professional services at Olympic and Paralympic activities, as defined, if the health care practitioner has been invited by the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games to provide those services and the committee provides specified information to the Director of Consumer Affairs. The bill would specify that the exemption applies while the health care practitioner is providing professional services at the invitation of the committee and only during the time sanctioned by the committee. This bill would authorize the official team representative who is responsible for any member participating in Olympic and Paralympic activities to give consent to the furnishing of professional services to a team member who, due to age, disability, or injury, is not able to personally consent in the event the consent of a parent, guardian, or legal representative of a team member cannot be obtained. The bill would specify that in the case of emergency, the consent of the parent, guardian, or legal representative of the team member would not be necessary in order to authorize the performance of professional services. (2) Existing law sets forth various powers and responsibilities for the State Department of Public Health concerning communicable disease prevention and control, in relation to persons, animals, and places, as necessary to protect or preserve the public health. This bill would require that the list of immunizations, items, and services that were recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) that were in effect on January 1, 2025, serve as a baseline of recommendations and would authorize the State Department of Public Health, notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, to modify or supplement those baseline recommendations, as specified. The bill would require the department to publish recommendations and any updates, modifications, or supplements. (3) Existing law authorizes various healing arts licensees, including dentists, doctors of podiatric medicine, optometrists, and pharmacists, to independently prescribe, initiate, or administer specified immunizations approved or authorized by the United States Food and Drug Administration in compliance with specified recommendations, including those by the ACIP. This bill would instead authorize those licensees to prescribe, initiate, or administer specified immunizations in a manner consistent with a recommendation made by the State Department of Public Health, as specified. (4) Existing law provides for the licensure, registration, and regulation of clinical laboratories and various clinical laboratory personnel by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires the fees or charges accompanying an application for the issuance or renewal of these licenses, among others, to be adjusted annually by the percentage change printed in the Budget Act and determined by dividing the General Fund appropriation to Laboratory Field Services in the current state fiscal year by the General Fund appropriation to Laboratory Field Services in the preceding state fiscal year. Commencing January 1, 1995, upon establishment of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Fund, existing law requires this annual adjustment to be determined by dividing the current fiscal year appropriation to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Fund by the General Fund appropriation to Laboratory Field Services of the department in the preceding fiscal year. Existing law also requires these fees and charges to be adjusted annually by a percentage determined by dividing the total amount of federal funds available for all programs in Laboratory Field Services of the department during the federal fiscal year ending on September 30 of the year immediately preceding the effective date of the change in fees, as specified. This bill would delete the above provisions pertaining to the annual adjustment of fees or charges and replace them with a requirement that the annual adjustment be done by the department to cover the estimated licensing program costs. Existing law requires a tissue bank, as defined, to have a current and valid tissue bank license. Under existing law, the application and annual renewal fee for a tissue bank license is $950, adjusted annually by a percentage listed in the Budget Act. This bill would adjust the fees or charges for a tissue bank license annually pursuant to the provision above requiring the annual adjustment be done by the department to cover the estimated licensing program costs. This bill would additionally revise the application, registration, and license fees for clinical laboratories and clinical laboratory personnel. (5) Existing federal law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), requires each state to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange to facilitate the purchase of qualified health benefit plans by qualified individuals and qualified small employers. PPACA defines a “qualified health plan” as a plan that, among other requirements, provides an essential health benefits package. Existing state law creates the California Health Benefit Exchange, also known as Covered California, to facilitate the enrollment of qualified individuals and qualified small employers in qualified health plans as required under PPACA. Existing law establishes the Health Care Affordability Reserve Fund to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for health care affordability programs operated by the Exchange. If a qualified health plan is required to cover state-mandated gender-affirming care benefits determined to be in addition to essential health benefits, this bill would require the Exchange to provide payments to issuers of qualified health plans to defray the costs of offering those benefits for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would authorize the Health Care Affordability Reserve Fund to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for these payments. (6) Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health and sets forth its powers and duties, including, but not limited to, duties relating to the licensing and regulation of various entities, including clinics. Existing law exempts specified clinics from these licensure requirements, including, among others, certain federal clinics, clinics maintained as outpatient departments of hospitals, and student health centers operated by public institutions of higher education. This bill would exempt from the above-described licensure requirements a clinic approved by, and that provides health care services at locations designated or sanctioned by, the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games from May 15, 2028, to September 15, 2028, inclusive. (7) Existing law, the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, establishes the Emergency Medical Services Authority, which is responsible for the coordination of various state activities concerning emergency medical services (EMS), including, among others, establishing minimum standards and promulgating regulations for the training and scope of practice for an Emergency Medical Technician I and II (EMT-I and EMT-II) and Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic (EMT-P). Existing law requires the authority to have a chief medical officer who is required to provide clinical leadership and oversight concerning treatment, education, and other matters involving medical decisionmaking and delivery of patient care. This bill, notwithstanding any other law, would exempt from the EMS licensure, certification, or accreditation requirements of this state an EMT-I, EMT-II, EMT-P, or similar EMS provider, as defined, licensed or certified in another state or territory of the United States, who provides EMS for which they are licensed, if they are authorized by the chief medical officer of the authority to provide EMS at sites in this state sanctioned by the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and associated with the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The bill would require the chief medical officer to authorize those EMS personnel based on system needs and informed by committee needs, qualifications of the emergency medical services personnel, and public safety considerations. The bill would prohibit EMS providers authorized by the chief medical officer from being liable for any act or omission taken in good faith while providing authorized services. The bill would require authorization pursuant to these provisions to be valid from May 15, 2028, to September 15, 2028, inclusive, or until authorization is otherwise withdrawn by the chief medical officer. (8) Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to annually report to certain legislative committees, and publicly post, a summary of outcome and expenditure data with regard to outcome measures for alcohol and drug program services, as specified. This bill would repeal the above-described reporting and publication provisions. (9) Existing law requires DHCS to provide certain legislative committees with biannual updates on caseload, estimated expenditures, and related program monitoring data for the Every Woman Counts (EWC) Program, as specified. Existing law requires that expenditures for the EWC Program included in the department’s budget for services provided on or after July 1, 2017, be charged against the appropriation for the fiscal year in which the billing is paid. This bill would delete the above-described requirements relating to the EWC Program. (10) Existing law establishes the public policy of the state that pupils are advised to adhere to current immunization guidelines, as recommended by, among other entities, the ACIP. Existing law prohibits the governing authority of a school or other institution from unconditionally admitting any person as a pupil unless, before the person’s admission to that institution, the person has been fully immunized against various diseases, including any disease deemed appropriate by the State Department of Public Health, taking into consideration recommendations of various entities, including the ACIP. Existing law requires a medical exemption form and the appeal process for revocation of a medical exemption to be consistent with specified guidelines, including those by the ACIP. This bill would delete certain references to the ACIP and replace other references to the ACIP with the State Department of Public Health. Some of these provisions would be operative beginning July 1, 2026. To the extent that this bill imposes new duties on a local education agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (11) Existing law, from October 1 to the following April 1, inclusive, of each year, requires specified health facilities to offer immunizations for influenza and pneumococcal disease to residents or inpatients 65 years of age or older who are receiving services at the facility, based upon the latest recommendations of specified entities, including the ACIP. This bill would replace those references to ACIP with the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to post on its internet website educational information regarding influenza in accordance with the latest recommendations of the ACIP. This bill would replace the reference to ACIP with the State Department of Public Health. (12) Existing law, the Hereditary Disorders Act, requires the State Department of Public Health to license genetic counselors and temporary genetic counselors who meet specified requirements. Existing law prohibits the license fee from exceeding $200 for an original license, license renewal, or temporary license. Existing law requires all moneys collected by the department under the act to be deposited in the Genetic Disease Testing Fund, which is continuously appropriated to the department to carry out the purposes of the act. This bill would instead set the fee for an original license, license renewal, and temporary license at $300. The bill would authorize the department to adjust those fees to an amount not to exceed $500. The bill would require the department to solicit input from affe [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]