With the Friday deadline to introduce bills in Sacramento, a fuller picture of just what Orange County legislators plan to champion this year is beginning to form.
Many legislators — in both the Assembly and Senate and on both sides of the aisle — have introduced bills related to retail theft or fentanyl. Legislators are also looking at housing reforms, access to health care coverage, penalties for protesters who block emergency vehicles and even designating a state seashell.
Here’s a brief look at what’s on deck from your representatives in 2024.Â
Health
Seniors could not be denied Medicare Supplemental Insurance (Medigap) coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions, under a bill from Sen. Catherine Blakespear, who represents south Orange County communities. While federal law already prevents Medigap policies — supplemental coverage used by seniors in tandem with Medicare to cover help with high out-of-pocket costs — from penalizing seniors for pre-existing conditions under some circumstances, Blakespear’s SB 1236 would expand that for Californians.Â
AB 1788 from Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton, would allow counties to establish mental health multidisciplinary teams to help people with a diagnosed mental health condition link to supportive services while incarcerated and upon release from jail. It permits the sharing of information among the teams to coordinate supportive services.Â
More information on inheritable genetic conditions found in California’s newborns could become more readily available if a bill from Sen. Janet Nguyen, R-Huntington Beach, is successful this year. Her bill, SB 1099, requires the Department of Public Health to compile a report that…
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