Assembly Health Committee advances broad package to curb prior authorization delays, expand street medicine and tighten medical-data rules; moves kratom, ambuln

The Assembly Health Committee on April 22 moved a package of measures aimed at reducing delays from health-plan utilization management, expanding access to street-based medical care for people experiencing homelessness, and tightening rules around medical-data use. The committee voted to send multiple bills to the Appropriations Committee or next committees after debate and testimony from clinicians, patient advocates, insurers and provider associations.

Why it matters: Lawmakers said the bills respond to widespread complaints from physicians and patients that prior authorizations and other utilization‑management practices are causing harmful delays in care. Members also advanced measures to improve access for unhoused Medi‑Cal members, raise nonemergency ambulance reimbursement rates, and set new guardrails on use of clinical encounters for artificial‑intelligence training and translation tools.

Most significant actions - AB 384 (Connolly): Prohibits prior authorization when a patient is admitted to an inpatient facility for a mental‑health or substance‑use emergency and for medical care provided while the patient is enrolled in that inpatient facility. Assemblymember Damon Connolly, the bill’s author, told the committee “AB 384...would prohibit the use of prior authorizations for patients when they're admitted to an inpatient facility for a mental health or substance use emergency.” The bill was moved out of committee.

- AB 510 (Addis): Requires that when a treating provider appeals a prior‑authorization denial, the insurer must provide a peer reviewer of the same or similar specialty on request. Assemblymember Buffy Wicks Addis said the measure “requires that when a treating provider appeals a prior authorization decision, that the plan must provide a peer of the same or similar specialty upon request of the treating provider.” Supporters argued specialty matching reduces needless delays; insurers warned of workforce and timing challenges.

- AB 539 (Schiavo): Extends the duration of an approved prior authorization to either one year or the duration of the treating physician's prescribed treatment, to reduce repeated renewals for…