AB 1973

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, provides that the state may not deny or interfere with a person's right to choose or obtain an abortion prior to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person. The act defines "abortion" as a medical treatment intended to induce the termination of a pregnancy except for the purpose of producing a live birth. Existing law also provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services through, among other things, managed care plans licensed under the act that contract with the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires group and individual health care service plan contracts and disability insurance policies to cover contraceptives, without cost sharing, as specified. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan or an individual or group policy of disability insurance that is issued, amended, renewed, or delivered on or after January 1, 2021, from imposing a deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or any other cost-sharing requirement on coverage for all abortion services, as specified, and additionally would prohibit cost sharing from being imposed on a Medi-Cal beneficiary for those services. The bill would apply the same benefits with respect to an enrollee's or insured's covered spouse and covered nonspouse dependents. The bill would not require an individual or group health care service plan contract or disability insurance policy to cover an experimental or investigational treatment. Because a violation of the bill by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.