Citizen Portal
Sign In

Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!

Health Committee advances AB 298 to eliminate out-of-pocket costs for children's health services

California State Assembly Health Committee · January 13, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

AB 298, authored by Assemblymember Bonta, would prohibit cost sharing (co-pays, coinsurance, deductibles) for children under 21 in large-group commercial plans; the committee voted to send the bill to Appropriations amid support from health advocates and opposition from insurers and business groups citing premium impacts.

The California State Assembly Health Committee voted Jan. 13 to send AB 298 to the Appropriations Committee after hearings in which health advocates urged removal of cost-sharing barriers for children and insurers and business groups warned of market and premium impacts.

Assemblymember Rob Bonta (author) said the elimination of federal ACA subsidies earlier in the year contributed to sharp premium increases and presented AB 298 as a response to protect families. He said the bill would prohibit co-payments, coinsurance and deductibles for covered pediatric services in large-group commercial plans and emphasized that Medi-Cal already…

Already have an account? Log in

Subscribe to keep reading

Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.

  • Unlimited articles
  • AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
  • Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
  • Follow topics and more locations
  • 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
30-day money-back on paid plans