Senate Health Committee advances social media warning-labels, menopause coverage, hospital financial-assistance screening and other health bills

The Senate Committee on Health on Monday advanced a slate of bills aimed at public health and health-care access, including a proposal to require warning labels on social media (AB 56), an insurance coverage bill for menopause care (AB 432), a measure to require hospitals to screen patients for financial assistance before billing (AB 1312), and a bill to require trained chaperones be made available for ultrasound exams of sensitive areas (AB 849).

Supporters framed the measures as steps to protect vulnerable Californians and expand access to care. Victoria Hinks, a mother who lost her 16-year-old daughter to suicide, urged passage of AB 56, the social media warning-label bill, saying in testimony, “Please vote like a mom. Please support AB 56” (testimony excerpted from committee hearing). Anthony Liu, deputy attorney general, told the committee the Attorney General’s Office and a bipartisan coalition of 42 state attorneys general back a Surgeon General advisory and support a warning-label approach as “an equitable, effective, and transparent way to deliver public health information.”

Industry groups and technology trade associations opposed AB 56, saying the measure could be ineffective, technically burdensome, and vulnerable to First Amendment challenge. Dylan Hoffman of TechNet said the proposed labels “flatten an incredibly complex, nuanced and evolving issue to the point of overgeneralization,” and cautioned the bill is “highly likely to be challenged in court.” The…