AB 2135 — Long-term health care facilities.

Summary

(1) Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of health facilities, including, but not limited to, long-term health care facilities, as defined, by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law requires a contract for admission to a long-term care facility to state that a resident shall not be involuntarily transferred within, or discharged from, a long-term health care facility unless the resident is given reasonable notice in writing, and transfer or discharge planning, as specified. Willful or repeated violations of the provisions relating to long-term health care facilities is a misdemeanor. This bill would require long-term health care facilities to provide residents with a notice of a facility-initiated transfer or discharge at least 30 days before a resident is transferred or discharged, unless an exception applies. The bill would require the notice of transfer or discharge to be acknowledged by the signature of the resident or, if applicable, the resident's representative. The bill would make a violation of these provisions a class "B" violation and would make knowingly making a false verification regarding the delivery of a notice of transfer or discharge a willful violation for purposes of the criminal provision described above. The bill would require a notice of discharge or transfer to be provided to a resident and, if applicable, the resident's representative in a translated or accessible format at the same time as the written notice in English if the resident's primary language is not English or if the resident is vision impaired or blind, as specified. The bill would also require the translated or accessible-format notices to be made available to the local long-term care ombudsman upon request. The bill would require the translator to attest, under penalty of perjury, to the accuracy of the translation, thereby expanding the crime of perjury. The bill would require a resident's primary language or sensory impairments to be included in the minimum dataset maintained by the facility. The bill would make a violation of these provisions a class "B" violation. Existing law requires that a copy of the notice of transfer or discharge be sent to the local long-term care ombudsman at the same time notice is provided to the resident or the resident's representative by facsimile machine, email, or first-class mail, as specified. Existing law requires, if a resident is subject to a facility-initiated transfer to a general acute care hospital on an emergency basis, the notice to be provided to the local long-term care ombudsman as soon as practicable. This bill would instead require the notices described above to be sent to the long-term care ombudsman by facsimile, email, or other electronic means. For emergency transfer notices, the bill would require a copy of the notice to be provided to the local long-term care ombudsman as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 24 hours after the transfer. Because a willful or repeated violation of long-term care facilities provisions is a crime and because the crime of perjury is expanded, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish an inspection and reporting system to ensure that long-term health care facilities are in compliance with state statutes and regulations. Existing law, the Medi-Cal Long-Term Care Reimbursement Act, requires, among other things, that long-term health care facilities timely comply with hearing decisions issued by the department's Office of Administrative Hearings and Appeals for improperly transferring, discharging, or refusing to readmit a resident. Existing law authorizes the department to assess a penalty of $750 for each calendar day a facility fails to comply with the hearing decision and caps aggregate penalties for each individual hearing decision at $75,000. The bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to prohibit the admission of new residents to a long-term health care facility upon notification that a facility has failed to timely comply with a hearing decision. The bill would require the prohibition to remain in effect until the facility has achieved compliance, the maximum aggregate of penalties have been collected, or the facility has formally sought judicial review of the hearing decision. The bill would increase the daily penalty described above to $1,000 for each calendar day and increase the maximum aggregate penalty amount to $100,000. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Bill Text

• Amended 06/29/26 - Amended Senate Current pdf June 29, 2026
• Amended 06/04/26 - Amended Senate pdf June 04, 2026
• Amended 04/16/26 - Amended Assembly pdf April 16, 2026
• Amended 04/06/26 - Amended Assembly pdf April 06, 2026
• Introduced 02/18/26 - Introduced pdf February 18, 2026
• AB2135 View text html

Action History

1. August 13, 2026

   In committee: Held under submission.

2. August 03, 2026

   In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

3. June 30, 2026

   Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

4. June 30, 2026

   Withdrawn from committee.

5. June 29, 2026

   Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

6. June 25, 2026

   From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (June 24).

7. June 04, 2026

   From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.

8. May 27, 2026

   Referred to Coms. on HEALTH and JUD.

9. May 14, 2026

   In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

10. May 14, 2026

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 68. Noes 1. Page 5049.)

11. May 07, 2026

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

12. May 06, 2026

    From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (May 6).

13. April 20, 2026

    Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

14. April 16, 2026

    Read second time and amended.

15. April 15, 2026

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (April 14).

16. April 07, 2026

    Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.

17. April 06, 2026

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. Read second time and amended.

18. March 16, 2026

    Referred to Com. on HEALTH.

19. February 19, 2026

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 21.

20. February 18, 2026

    Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

• Ash Kalra · Primary

Votes

Subjects