SB862 - Health.

Senate Bill No. 862 CHAPTER 243 An act to amend Sections 232.7 and 49421 of the Education Code, to amend Sections 1279.6, 1337.3, 110962, 127410, 131365, and 131370 of the Health and Safety Code, to amend Sections 10119.6 and 10123.1991 of the Insurance Code, and to amend Sections 5771.1, 5814, 5830, 5835, 5835.2, 5840.6, 5847, 5892, 5892.1, 5897, 5899, 14132.85, and 14184.201 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to health. [ Approved by Governor October 01, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 01, 2025. ] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 862, Committee on Health. Health. (1) Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, established the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to oversee the implementation of the MHSA. Existing law specifies the composition of the 16-member commission, including the Attorney General or their designee, the Superintendent of Public Instruction or their designee, specified members of the Legislature, and 12 members appointed by the Governor, as prescribed. Existing law, the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA), an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 1 at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election, recast the MHSA by, among other things, renaming the commission to the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission and changing its composition and duties. This bill would make technical changes to reflect the correct name of the commission. (2) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires a health facility to develop, implement, and comply with a patient safety plan to improve the health and safety of patients and to reduce preventable patient safety events. Existing law requires a patient safety plan to contain specified elements, including, but not limited to, a reporting system for patient safety events that allows anyone involved to make a report of a patient safety event to the health facility and a process for a team of facility staff to conduct analyses related to root causes of patient safety events. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2026, and biannually thereafter, requires a health facility to submit a patient safety plan to the department. A violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would instead require a health facility to submit a patient safety plan to the department biennially. The bill would also make technical corrections to those provisions. (3) Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health and sets forth its powers and duties to license and administer health facilities, as defined, including skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities. Existing law requires the department to prepare and maintain a list of approved training programs for nurse assistant certification, which are required to include a precertification training program consisting of at least 60 classroom hours of training on basic nursing skills, patient safety and rights, the social and psychological problems of patients, and elder abuse recognition and reporting and at least 100 hours of supervised and on-the-job training clinical practice. Existing law requires at least 2 hours of the 60 hours of classroom training and at least 4 hours of the 100 hours of the supervised clinical training to address the special needs of persons with developmental and mental disorders, including intellectual disability, Alzheimer’s disease, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and mental illness. A violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would require that at least 2 of the 60 hours of classroom training address the special needs of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. By changing the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) Existing law requires a hospital, as defined, to maintain an understandable written policy regarding discount payments for financially qualified patients as well as a written charity care policy, and requires a hospital to negotiate the terms of a discount payment plan with an eligible patient, as specified. Existing law requires each hospital to provide patients with written notice, provided at the time of service, about the availability of the hospital’s discount payment and charity care policies, and other additional information. This bill would authorize, with the exception of emergency room visits, a hospital to provide the written notice in either hard copy or, if the patient has previously consented to receive electronic communications, using the patient’s preferred electronic notification method. The bill would require the written notice related to an emergency room visit to be provided in hard copy. The bill would require, if the notice is provided electronically, the notice to be sent separately from any other electronic communications and to prominently indicate in the subject line that the notice is related to the hospital’s discount and charity care policies. (5) Existing law authorizes the State Department of Public Health to develop and administer a syndromic surveillance program and, subject to an appropriation, to either designate an existing system or to create a new system that would be required, at a minimum, to provide public health practitioners access to an electronic health system to rapidly collect, evaluate, share, and store syndromic surveillance data, as specified. This bill would make technical corrections to related provisions. (6) Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a large group disability insurance policy and a small group disability insurance policy, except as specified, issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and fertility services, as specified. This bill would instead require a large group health insurance policy and a small group health insurance policy, except as specified, to offer the above-described services. (7) Existing law requires an insurer to provide an insured with an annual written or electronic notice regarding the benefits of a behavioral health and wellness screening, as defined, for children and adolescents 8 to 18 years of age. This bill would make technical changes to those provisions. (8) Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law requires, commencing January 1, 2022, that Community-Based Adult Services (CBAS) continue to be available as a capitated benefit for a qualified Medi-Cal beneficiary under a comprehensive risk contract with an applicable Medi-Cal managed care plan. This bill would make a technical correction to this provision. (9) Existing law, subject to any necessary federal approvals, sets forth various Medi-Cal provisions relating to complex rehabilitation technology (CRT), which is a form of durable medical equipment, including, but not limited to, complex rehabilitation manual and power wheelchairs. Existing law requires a CRT provider to comply with certain standards, including requiring a qualified rehabilitation technology professional to be physically present for the evaluation. This bill would make a technical correction to this provision. (10) Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, provides for the regulation of various subjects relating to the manufacturing, processing, labeling, advertising, and sale of food, drugs, and cosmetics under the administration and enforcement of the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires a manufacturer of baby food, as defined, for sale or distribution in this state to test a representative sample of each production aggregate of the manufacturer’s final baby food product, at a proficient laboratory meeting certain criteria, for toxic elements, as specified. Existing law defines baby food as food packaged in jars, pouches, tubs, and boxes represented or purported to be specifically for babies and young children less than 2 years of age and excludes infant formula. This bill would clarify that baby food does not include dietary supplements, as defined. (11) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 232.7 of the Education Code is amended to read: 232.7. (a) (1) (A) On or before June 30, 2025, the State Department of Education, in consultation with the California Health and Human Services Agency, the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, and other relevant stakeholders, shall develop and post on its internet website a model policy and resources about body shaming that is appropriate for schools that serve pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and that local educational agencies may use to educate staff and pupils about the issue of body shaming. (B) The State Department of Education, in consultation with the California Health and Human Services Agency, the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, and other relevant stakeholders, may use existing resources or frameworks, or both, about body shaming or body image, or both, to meet the requirements of subparagraph (A). (2) Local educational agencies are encouraged to inform teachers, staff, parents, and pupils about the resources developed pursuant to subdivision (a), including, but not limited to, by providing information in pupil and employee handbooks and making the information available on each schoolsite’s internet website. (b) For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply: (1) “Body shaming” means the action or practice of mocking or stigmatizing a person by making critical comments or observations about the shape, size, or appearance of the person’s body. (2) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school. SEC. 2. Section 49421 of the Education Code is amended to read: 49421. (a) The sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Superintendent on a one-time basis for the School Health Demonstration Project. The School Health Demonstration Project is hereby established in the office as a pilot project to expand comprehensive health and mental health services to public school pupils by providing local educational agencies with intensive assistance and support to build the capacity for long-term sustainability by leveraging multiple revenue sources. For these purposes, the project is intended to provide training and technical assistance on the requirements for health care provider participation in the Medi-Cal program pursuant to Article 1.3 (commencing with Section 14043) of Chapter 7 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code to enable local educational agencies to participate in, contract with, and conduct billing and claiming in the Medi-Cal program through all of the following: (1) The Local Educational Agency Medi-Cal Billing Option Program. (2) The School-Based Medi-Cal Administrative Activities Program. (3) Contracting or entering into a memorandum of understanding with Medi-Cal managed care plans as a participating Medi-Cal managed care plan contracting provider. (4) Contracting with or entering into a memorandum of understanding with county mental health plans for specialty mental health services, such as through the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment Program. (5) Contracting with community-based providers to deliver health and mental health services to pupils in school through contracts with Medi-Cal managed care plans or county mental health plans. (b) On or before June 30, 2022, the Superintendent, in consultation with the executive director of the state board and the State Department of Health Care Services, shall select up to three organizations to serve as technical assistance teams for purposes of the pilot project. Technical assistance teams selected to serve shall be a consortia that consists of one or more local educational agencies, county agencies, or community-based organizations with experience in general and special education mental health program and service development, school finance, health care, Medi-Cal managed care contracting and benefits, Medicaid billing, commercial health insurance, and data analysis. The technical assistance teams are intended to provide hands-on, intensive support for a two-year period to the local educational agencies selected to be pilot participants to create capacity for those local educational agencies to become self-sustaining by securing federal reimbursement and other revenue sources for health and mental health services provided to pupils. In selecting the technical assistance teams, consideration shall be given to demonstrated expertise, including, but not limited to, all of the following: (1) Knowledge of the process to submit claims through the Local Educational Agency Medi-Cal Billing Option Program, the School-Based Medi-Cal Administrative Activities Program, and drawing down federal reimbursement for Medi-Cal services. (2) The knowledge and capacity to provide direct, hands-on assistance and support to selected local educational agencies in securing federal reimbursement for health and mental health services provided to pupils, and identifying additional sources of funding through programs identified in subdivision (a). (3) Experience working with the department, the State Department of Health Care Services, county health departments, county behavioral health departments, Medi-Cal managed care plans, private health care service plans and health insurers, and the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. (4) Experience in the legally compliant development and sustainable funding of general and special education mental health programs and supports in public schools, including the Multi-Tiered System of Supports, positive behavioral interventions and supports services for children under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.) and Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]