Legislation Tracker

Allows pharmacists the discretion to continue providing sterile syringes and adults to continue possessing syringes for personal use without a prescription beyond the existing law’s end date of January 2026

Authorizes Covered California to develop a parallel market offering undocumented state residents qualified health plans similar to those available to other Californians and sets the basis for providing undocumented individuals state-based affordability assistance

Requires that seniors be offered access to Medigap plans without regard to their age or pre-existing conditions and that health insurance companies establish an annual open enrollment period for this purpose

Declares the legislature’s intent to establish a new health benefits benchmark plan that covers essential health benefits

Requires pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to be licensed and prohibits them from engaging in spread pricing (i.e., charging a health plan more for a drug than it pays a pharmacy), negotiating exclusive deals with drug, device, and other manufacturers, and steering patients to affiliated pharmacies rather than the in-network pharmacy that suits their needs

Authorizes disclosure of health data by state and local public health agency staff to the Medi-Cal program to coordinate the care and treatment of HIV-positive persons, as well as HIV test results needed to administer Medi-cal’s quality improvement programs

Allows people on Medi-Cal to access over-the-counter contraceptives without a prescription or out-of-pocket costs, similar to people with private health insurance

Prevents health care and insurance plans from requiring prior authorization or step therapy for all antiretroviral drugs, including injectable medications, and also requires HIV/AIDS prevention drugs to be covered without cost sharing or utilization review requirements

Requires health insurance or service plans to cover specified HIV/AIDS prevention drugs, including those for pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP), and prohibits cost-sharing or utilization review requirements. It also establishes that a long-acting injectable (LAI) drug is not therapeutically equivalent to an LAI of different duration.

Expedites court orders for name and gender marker changes for transgender and nonbinary people needed for state identification essential to daily life, including obtaining health care

Makes all court records pertaining to name and gender marker changes confidential

Shields attorneys providing legal services to patients, medical providers, and others seeking or offering health care services that are lawful in California but may be illegal in other states

Requires warrants for law enforcement access to the state’s prescription drug database and prohibits healthcare providers from complying with subpoenas demanding disclosure of transgender and nonbinary persons’ sensitive medical information