Legislation sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara takes effect this year
Source: California Insurance Commissioner
Image: Creative Commons by NC-ND
January 4, 2022 (Sacramento) -- Califo
January 4, 2022 (Sacramento) -- California consumers and hard-working families will have additional insurance protections under new laws now in effect in 2022. These include laws that provide new health coverage options for older adults being cared for by their adult children, expand requirements for medically necessary basic health care services including women’s reproductive services and increase insurance oversight to protect the safety of people recovering from substance use disorders and prevent child abuse by youth volunteers.
“We are protecting Californians’ health with new coverage options for families caring for older adults while preventing discrimination and abuse,” said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who sponsored these new laws. “My Department of Insurance is using every tool at our disposal to protect consumers including expanding and enforcing insurance laws as well as working with the Legislature and Governor Newsom on creating new laws.”
Assembly Bill 570, authored by A-sembly Member Miguel Santiago, will increase access to health coverage and 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 just as dependent children can currently be added to their parents’ health coverage. The Department of Insurance will be implementing the new coverage option, which will be made available during the open enrollment period starting in November 2022, with coverage effective January 1, 2023.
Senate Bill 280, authored by Senator Monique Limón, will remove discriminatory practices in the large group health insurance market by requiring these 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. In addition, it codifies the federal Affordable Care Act’s prohibition on discriminatory large group health insurance benefit designs and marketing practices under California law and forbids discrimination based upon s-xual orientation and gender identity.
Assembly Bill 1158, authored by A-sembly Member Cottie Petrie-Norris, 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 to ensure more adequate consumer protections.
GST taxpayers can't claim any pending input tax credit if this return is not filed by November 30, 2024 for FY 2023-24
