2024 Pay or Play Affordability Percentage

Californians’ New Insurance Laws

Additional insurance laws in effect in 2022 will protect Californians’ safety and health. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara sponsored the new laws and said, “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.”

New Laws

  • Assembly Bill 570 (Parent Healthcare Act)
    • Will increase access to health coverage to older adults
    • Reduces coverage costs for older adults by allowing adult children to add their dependent parents (or stepparents) to their health coverage policies in the individual market
    • Coverage options will be available during the November 2022 open enrollment period, with coverage effective January 1, 2023
  • Senate Bill 280
    • Will prohibit discriminatory practices in the large health group health insurance market based upon race, disability, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, life expectancy, or other health conditions
    • Will require health insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2022, to cover medically necessary basic health care services: women’s services, cancer treatments, obesity care, organ transplants, and HIV medicines
    • Codifies the federal Affordable Care Act’s prohibition on discriminatory large health group insurance benefit designs and marketing practices under California law
  • Assembly Bill 1158
    • Provisions applicable to contracts and policies entered (issued), renewed, or amended on or after January 1, 2022
    • Requires licensees that serve 6 or fewer residents to maintain general liability insurance coverage
    • Ensures licensed alcohol or drug abuse recovery and treatment facilities, contracted with a government entity, maintain minimum insurance coverage levels
  • Assembly Bill 506
    • Effective January 1, 2022
    • Will require youth service organizations to enact child abuse and neglect prevention measures
    • Mandate administrators, employees, and regular volunteers to be trained on child abuse and neglect identification and reporting
    • Will permit liability insurance companies to confirm compliance with above requirements
  • Senate Bill 334
    • Effective January 1, 2022
    • Will require California’s private, for-profits prisons and detention centers to follow all state and local health, fire, safety, and labor standards already in effect for state and local publicly managed prisons
    • Will require private, for-profit prisons to obtain workers’ compensation and liability insurance coverage from an admitted insurance carrier authorized by the Department of Insurance

If you have any questions regarding the above information, please contact your Creative Benefits, Inc. team member.