New Insurance Laws for 2022 Sponsored by California Commissioner
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and the California Department of Insurance released a list of laws taking effect this year that were sponsored by Lara.
New California laws related to insurance include the creation of new health coverage options for older adults being cared for by their adult children, expanded requirements for medically necessary basic healthcare services and increased insurance oversight substance use centers and youth volunteers.
The CDI will also implement new insurance requirements to protect those held in for-profit detention facilities and prisons.
The Lara-sponsored laws include:
Assembly Bill 570. Will increase access to health coverage and is designed to help reduce coverage costs for older adults by allowing adult children to add their dependent parents, or step-parents, to their health coverage policies in the individual market. The CDI will be implementing the new coverage option, which will be made available during the open enrollment period starting in November 2022, with coverage effective Jan. 1, 2023.
Senate Bill 28. Will requiring large group health insurance policies to cover medically necessary basic health care services such as women’s reproductive services, HIV medicines, cancer treatments, obesity care, and organ transplants. It also codifies the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition on discriminatory large group health insurance benefit designs and marketing practices under California law and forbids discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity.
Assembly Bill 1158. Will ensure that licensed alcohol or drug abuse recovery and treatment facilities and recovery residences that contract with a government entity maintain minimum insurance coverage levels.
Assembly Bill 506. Will require youth service organizations to implement child abuse and neglect prevention measures, mandate administrators, employees, and regular volunteers of youth service organizations to take training on child abuse and neglect identification and reporting, and permit liability insurance companies to confirm compliance with these requirements.
Senate Bill 334. Will require private, for-profit prisons and detention facilities operating in California to adhere to all state and local health, safety, fire, and labor standards already mandated for state and local publicly managed prisons and facilities while also requiring they obtain workers’ compensation and liability insurance coverage from an admitted insurance carrier authorized by the CDI to do business in California.