California is putting the current Affordable Care Act preventive services coverage requirements into state law.
ACA supporters in the state are hoping the move will protect the preventive services benefits mandates against any efforts by the administration of President Donald Trump or other policymakers in Washington to change the rules for coverage of vaccines, birth control services and products, and checkups.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed Assembly Bill 144, the bill enacting the changes, Sept. 17.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara put out a bulletin discussing the new state preventive services law Tuesday.
The new state law codifies the federal preventive services coverage standards that were in effect Jan. 1, 2025, Lara said.
The California Department of Public Health, or CDPH, will be in charge of managing the state’s version of the preventive services package.
Like the ACA, the state law requires affected major medical coverage providers to pay for the services and products that were part of the preventive services package without imposing deductibles, copayments or other cost-sharing requirements on the patients.
The new law applies only to fully insured health plans and managed care plans, not to employers’ self-insured health plans. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act preempts state efforts to regulate self-insured health plans.
Lara noted in the bulletin that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration now recommends COVID-19 immunizations only for people who are ages 65 or older and for people with health problems.
“Notwithstanding the FDA’s recommendations, per AB 144, health insurers must cover COVID-19 immunizations per CDPH’s recommendations even if doing so could be considered ‘off label,'” Lara writes.