AB 730 (De La Torre) Health insurance: unlawful post-claims underwriting: penalties. This bill would have increased the maximum civil penalty for health insurance post-claims underwriting from $118 per violation to $5,000 per violation for insurers under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of the California Department of Insurance. Under existing law, post claims underwriting is defined as "rescinding, canceling, or limiting of a plan contract due to a plan or insurer's failure to complete medical underwriting and resolve all reasonable questions arising from written information submitted on or with an application before issuing the plan contract or policy." Status: Vetoed.
SB 303 (Alquist) Nursing facility residents: informed consent. This bill, the Nursing Facility Resident Informed Consent Protection Act of 2009, would have established the right of a resident of a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility to receive information material to the decision to accept or refuse any treatment or procedure, including the administration of psychotherapeutic drugs, and would have codified existing regulations requiring attending physicians to obtain informed consent after providing specified material information. Status: Vetoed.
SB 543 (Leno) Minors: consent to mental health treatment. This bill authorizes a minor who is 12 years of age or older to consent to mental health treatment or counseling on an outpatient basis or to residential shelter services, if the minor, in the opinion of the attending professional person, as defined, is mature enough to participate intelligently in the mental health treatment or counseling services. Status: Chapter 503, 2010.
SB 781 (Leno) Eviction procedure: residential care facilities for the elderly. This bill requires a residential care facility for the elderly to include additional information when providing a notice of eviction to a resident, including the reason for the eviction, the effective date of the eviction, and additional information informing the resident of his or her rights regarding evictions. Status: Chapter 617, 2009.
SB 1069 (Pavley) Physician assistants. This bill authorizes physician assistants, pursuant to a delegation of services agreement, to order durable medical equipment, certify unemployment insurance disability, and for individuals receiving home health services or personal care services, after consultation with the supervising physician, approve, sign, modify, or add to a plan of treatment or plan of care. This bill also authorizes physician assistants to conduct specified medical examinations and to sign corresponding medical certificates for various individuals. Status: Chapter 512, 2010.
SB 1187 (Strickland) Human experimentation: informed consent. This bill extends, by three years, until January 1, 2014, the sunset on a narrow exception to the informed consent provisions of the Protection of Human Subjects in Medical Experimentation Act, so as to permit patients with a life-threatening emergency to receive an experimental medical treatment, as specified. Status: Chapter 108, 2010.
SB 1329 (Leno) Residential care facilities for the elderly. This bill would have required licensees of residential care facilities for the elderly to notify the Department of Social Services (