Miguel Santiago
- Democratic
- Assemblymember
- District 54
Author
(1) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various healing arts professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Under existing law, it is unlawful for healing arts licensees, except as specified, to offer, deliver, receive, or accept any rebate, refund, commission, preference, patronage dividend, discount, or other consideration, in the form of money or otherwise, as compensation or inducement for referring patients, clients, or customers to any person, subject to certain exceptions. This bill would provide that the payment or receipt of consideration for internet-based advertising, appointment booking, or any service that provides information and resources to prospective patients of licensees does not constitute a referral of a patient if the internet-based service provider does not recommend or endorse a specific licensee to a prospective patient. (2) 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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a contract issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2021, between a health care service plan or health insurer and a health care provider to require the plan or insurer to reimburse the provider for the diagnosis, consultation, or treatment of an enrollee, subscriber, insured, or policyholder appropriately delivered through telehealth services on the same basis and to the same extent as the same service through in-person diagnosis, consultation, or treatment. This bill would delete that date restriction, thereby extending the telehealth reimbursement parity requirement for all contracts between a health care service plan or a health insurer and a health care provider. The bill would provide that these provisions are severable. The bill would also enact the Protection of Patient Choice in Telehealth Provider Act, and would require a health care service plan and a health insurer to comply with specified notice and consent requirements if the plan or insurer offers a service via telehealth to an enrollee or an insured through a third-party corporate telehealth provider, as defined. For an enrollee or insured that receives specialty telehealth services for a mental or behavioral health condition, the bill would require that the enrollee or insured be given the option of continuing to receive that service with the contracting individual health professional, a contracting clinic, or a contracting health facility. The bill would exempt specified health care service plan contracts and Medi-Cal managed care plan contracts from those provisions. The bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to consider the appropriateness of applying those requirements to the Medi-Cal program, as specified. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements relative to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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.
Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 439, Statutes of 2021.
Approved by the Governor.
Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 2606.).
Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 3149.).
In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 26).
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 1.) (June 23).
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.
In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 63. Noes 1. Page 1630.)
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (May 20).
In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.
Read second time and amended.
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (April 20).
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. Read second time and amended.
From printer. May be heard in committee March 11.
Read first time. To print.
| Bill Text Versions | Format |
|---|---|
| AB457 | HTML |
| 02/08/21 - Introduced | |
| 04/08/21 - Amended Assembly | |
| 04/27/21 - Amended Assembly | |
| 06/14/21 - Amended Senate | |
| 06/28/21 - Amended Senate | |
| 09/03/21 - Amended Senate | |
| 09/15/21 - Enrolled | |
| 10/01/21 - Chaptered |
| Document | Format |
|---|---|
| 04/16/21- Assembly Health | |
| 05/10/21- Assembly Appropriations | |
| 05/24/21- ASSEMBLY FLOOR ANALYSIS | |
| 06/21/21- Senate Health | |
| 07/13/21- Senate Appropriations | |
| 08/28/21- Sen. Floor Analyses | |
| 09/07/21- Sen. Floor Analyses | |
| 09/10/21- ASSEMBLY FLOOR ANALYSIS |
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