Several new laws that were greenlit by Gov. Newsom last month aim to widen Californians’ access to medical services while holding health care officials accountable.
Accessibility to Fertility Treatments
Millions of Californians will see expanded access to IVF and other fertility treatments thanks to a new state mandate.
Under the new law, large insurance companies are required to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and fertility services, including a maximum of three egg retrievals with unlimited embryo transfers.
The law also impacts the LGBTQ+ community and same-sex couples who want to have children as it broadens the definition of “infertility” to include a person’s inability to reproduce either as an individual or with their partner without medical intervention.
The law is expected to impact millions of Californians, and doctors expect more families to seek care now that fertility treatments and IVF will be more affordable for many.
The law will go into effect in July 2025.
Chemicals in tampons
California will ban the sale of tampons and other menstrual products that contain potentially toxic chemicals.
Under the law, the intentional use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, in menstrual products will be prohibited.
The Department of Toxic Substances Control is required to adopt these regulations on or before Jan. 1, 2029. And manufacturers must provide detailed product information and register with the department by July 1, 2029.
The law will fine manufactures who violate the regulations. And all money collected from the penalties will be deposited to the T.A.M.P.O.N. Act Fund.
Maternal mortality among Black women
A new law that aims to reduce racial and ethnic inequality in maternal and infant health care outcomes will require California’s medical facilities to conduct “evidence-based implicit bias training” for health care professionals.
It builds on existing laws requiring these training for health care providers involved in perinatal care.
But the new law introduces several new enhancements, including mandating health care facilities to report their adherence to training protocols to the state Attorney General’s office with penalties for non-compliance.
Current health care providers must complete their training by June 1, 2025. While new providers are required to complete training within six months of their start date.
“When giving birth, individuals are asked to listen to their bodies and to share that information with the medical professionals caring for them,” said Assemblymember Akilah Weber, M.D. “Unfortunately, concerns surrounding discomfort or pain are not taken as seriously when they are made by persons of color, specifically black persons.
Alzheimer’s disease
A package of twelve bills were signed into law to aid law enforcement, doctors and health care providers better serve the growing number of California adults with Alzheimer’s disease and their families.
Health care and law enforcement officials will be required to have training on how to interact with wandering people suffering from Alzheimer’s, autism and dementia.
Also health care professionals who primarily work with older patients will be mandated to take continuing education in geriatrics and dementia care.
As one in four Californians is expected to be age 60 or over in 2030, the new laws are anticipated to help change the aging services.
Substance abuse facilities increase
California will expand the range of facilities that can treat people who are on a temporary conservatorship for substance use disorder.
Currently, a psychiatric health facility provides 24-hour inpatient care for people with mental health disorders.
Under the new law, mental health rehabilitation centers and psychiatric health facilities can offer 24-hour inpatient care to people with a severe substance use disorder.
Treatment centers will have the new flexibility in managing treatment slots so they can increase the number of hospital beds available for substance use disorder patients.
Accessible prescription labels
Pharmacy dispensers are now required to provide patients who identify as blind or have low vision with accessible prescription medication labels upon request.
These labels can be in the form of supplemental documentation with large fonts, braille or for blind patients, the use of text-to-speech technology.
The bill, sponsored by the California Council of the Blind, was based on recommendations published back in 2013 from a United States Access Board Working Group.
Breast milk bank
A new law intends to allow more families to receive donor milk for their babies regardless of what insurance they have.
When a parent does not produce or does not produce enough breast milk, pasteurized donor human milk is the next best nutrition source for infants below normal birth weights. The new law defines donor milk as essential under commercial insurance — bringing it up to speed with Medi-Cal standards.
Breast milk reduces some health outcomes in infants, such as necrotizing enterocolitis, a life-threatening bowel disease which occurs about 60% more frequently in Black and Latino children, according to UC data.
Donor milk comes from people who are lactating and have been screened.Previously, hospitals had to have a tissue bank license to give donor milk to patients — now that barrier moves the license burden to already accredited milk banks such as the University of California Health Milk Bank.
UC Riverside Health recently opened a breast milk collection facility as well.
