California 2021-2022 Regular Session Status: Enacted

AB 532 — Health care: fair billing policies.

Last action — Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 465, Statutes of 2021.

Track this bill free

No card. One bill, free forever — alerts when it moves.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Assembly
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 10, 2021. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 70% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 6 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Existing law requires a hospital, as defined, to maintain an understandable written policy regarding discount payments for financially qualified patients as well as a written charity care policy, and requires a hospital to negotiate the terms of a discount payment plan with an eligible patient, as specified. Existing law requires each hospital to provide patients with written notice about the availability of the hospital's discount payment and charity care policies, including information about eligibility and contact information for a hospital employee or office from which the patient may obtain further information about the policies. This bill would additionally require the written patient notice to include the internet address of a specified health consumer assistance entity and information regarding Covered California and Medi-Cal presumptive eligibility. The bill also would require the written patient notice to include the internet address for the hospital's list of shoppable services, pursuant to a specified federal regulation. The bill would require the notice to be provided at the time of service if the patient is conscious and able to receive written notice at that time, or at other designated times, as appropriate. Existing law requires a hospital to post notice of its policy for financially qualified and self-pay patients in designated locations that are visible to the public, including outpatient settings. This bill would specify that "outpatient settings" includes observation units for this purpose. Existing law generally requires a hospital, upon the request of a person without health coverage, to provide a written estimate of the amount the hospital will require a person without health coverage to pay for the health care services, procedures, and supplies that are reasonably expected to be provided to the person, as specified. Existing law also requires the hospital to provide the person with an application form for financial assistance or charity care, if the person requests the form. This bill would require the hospital to automatically provide the person with an estimate and an application form for financial assistance or charity care, without need for a specific request. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 127410 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by AB 1020 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1020 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 465, Statutes of 2021.

  2. Approved by the Governor.

  3. Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 5 p.m.

  4. Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 2904.).

  5. Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Ayes 59. Noes 17. Page 2875.)

  6. In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 9 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.

  7. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 2458.).

  8. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  9. Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

  10. Ordered to third reading.

  11. From Consent Calendar.

  12. Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

  13. From committee: Be ordered to second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to Consent Calendar.

  14. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (June 10). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

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

  16. Referred to Com. on HEALTH.

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

  18. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 1153.)

  19. Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

  20. From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (April 14).

  21. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (April 6). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  22. Referred to Com. on HEALTH.

  23. From printer. May be heard in committee March 13.

  24. Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

  • Wood · Primary

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 121 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

  • Wood

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (121)

121 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 121 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

AB 532 Wood Concurrence in Senate Amendments

Passed 79 Yea · 0 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 27000
Unaffiliated 43001
Republican 9000
Total 79001
% of votes cast 99%0%0%1%
How each member voted (80)
Member Party Vote
Bloom — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Holden — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Wood — Yea
Smith — Yea
Cunningham — Yea
Cooper — Yea
Voepel — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Kiley — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
Ting — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Medina — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Villapudua — Yea
Salas — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Low — Yea
Levine — Yea
Daly — Yea
Burke — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Mayes — Yea
Frazier — Yea
Chau — Yea
Gray — Not Voting
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Jim Patterson — Yea
Lorena Gonzalez — Yea
Luz Rivas — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Vince Fong — Yea
Wendy Carrillo — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Bauer-Kahan, Rebecca Democratic Yea
Bennett, Steve Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Boerner, Tasha Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Bryan, Isaac G. Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Lee, Alex Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Nguyen, Stephanie Democratic Yea
Petrie-Norris, Cottie Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Ramos, James C. Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Rubio, Blanca E. Democratic Yea
Ward, Christopher M. Democratic Yea
Weber Pierson, M.D., Akilah Democratic Yea
Wicks, Buffy Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Davies, Laurie Republican Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Yea
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea
Seyarto, Kelly Republican Yea
Valladares, Suzette Martinez Republican Yea

Official roll call →

3rd Reading AB532 Wood By Pan

Passed 37 Yea · 0 Nay · 3 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 11002
Unaffiliated 22001
Republican 4000
Total 37003
% of votes cast 93%0%0%8%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Gonzalez — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Kamlager — Yea
Glazer — Yea
Pan — Yea
Wilk — Yea
Melendez — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Bates — Yea
Dodd — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Newman — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Rubio — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Roth — Yea
Hueso — Yea
Nielsen — Yea
Min — Yea
Borgeas — Not Voting
Allen, Benjamin Democratic Not Voting
Archuleta, Bob Democratic Yea
Becker, Josh Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Cortese, Dave Democratic Yea
Durazo, Maria Elena Democratic Yea
Hurtado, Melissa Democratic Yea
Laird, John Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Not Voting
Umberg, Thomas J. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Grove, Shannon Republican Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Yea
Ochoa Bogh, Rosilicie Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar

Passed 10 Yea · 0 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 6001
Democratic 3000
Republican 1000
Total 10001
% of votes cast 91%0%0%9%
How each member voted (11)
Member Party Vote
Eggman — Yea
Pan — Yea
Roth — Yea
Rubio — Yea
Gonzalez — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Melendez — Not Voting
Hurtado, Melissa Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea
Grove, Shannon Republican Yea

Official roll call →

AB 532 Wood Consent Calendar Second Day

Passed 77 Yea · 0 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 27001
Unaffiliated 40001
Republican 10000
Total 77002
% of votes cast 97%0%0%3%
How each member voted (79)
Member Party Vote
Bloom — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Wood — Yea
Smith — Yea
Cunningham — Yea
Cooper — Yea
Voepel — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Kiley — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
Ting — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Medina — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Villapudua — Yea
Salas — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Low — Yea
Levine — Yea
Daly — Yea
Gray — Yea
Burke — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Mayes — Yea
Frazier — Yea
Chau — Yea
Holden — Not Voting
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Lorena Gonzalez — Yea
Luz Rivas — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Bauer-Kahan, Rebecca Democratic Yea
Bennett, Steve Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Boerner, Tasha Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Carrillo, Juan Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Fong, Mike Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Lee, Alex Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Nguyen, Stephanie Democratic Yea
Petrie-Norris, Cottie Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Ramos, James C. Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Not Voting
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Rubio, Blanca E. Democratic Yea
Ward, Christopher M. Democratic Yea
Weber Pierson, M.D., Akilah Democratic Yea
Wicks, Buffy Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Davies, Laurie Republican Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Yea
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea
Patterson, Joe Republican Yea
Seyarto, Kelly Republican Yea
Valladares, Suzette Martinez Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass. To Consent Calendar.

Passed 16 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 7000
Democratic 7000
Republican 2000
Total 16000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (16)
Member Party Vote
Levine — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Chau — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Lorena Gonzalez — Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Carrillo, Juan Democratic Yea
Fong, Mike Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Davies, Laurie Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar

Passed 15 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 11000
Democratic 3000
Republican 1000
Total 15000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (15)
Member Party Vote
Rodriguez — Yea
Wood — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Burke — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
Mayes — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Luz Rivas — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Carrillo, Juan Democratic Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

healthcare health-insurance
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does AB 532 do?
Existing law requires a hospital, as defined, to maintain an understandable written policy regarding discount payments for financially qualified patients as well as a written charity care policy, and requires a hospital to negotiate the terms of a discount payment plan with an eligible patient, as specified. Existing law requires each hospital to provide patients with written notice about the availability of the hospital's discount payment and charity care policies, including information about eligibility and contact information for a hospital employee or office from which the patient may obtain further information about the policies. This bill would additionally require the written patient notice to include the internet address of a specified health consumer assistance entity and information regarding Covered California and Medi-Cal presumptive eligibility. The bill also would require the written patient notice to include the internet address for the hospital's list of shoppable services, pursuant to a specified federal regulation. The bill would require the notice to be provided at the time of service if the patient is conscious and able to receive written notice at that time, or at other designated times, as appropriate. Existing law requires a hospital to post notice of its policy for financially qualified and self-pay patients in designated locations that are visible to the public, including outpatient settings. This bill would specify that "outpatient settings" includes observation units for this purpose. Existing law generally requires a hospital, upon the request of a person without health coverage, to provide a written estimate of the amount the hospital will require a person without health coverage to pay for the health care services, procedures, and supplies that are reasonably expected to be provided to the person, as specified. Existing law also requires the hospital to provide the person with an application form for financial assistance or charity care, if the person requests the form. This bill would require the hospital to automatically provide the person with an estimate and an application form for financial assistance or charity care, without need for a specific request. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 127410 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by AB 1020 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1020 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Who sponsors AB 532?
AB 532 is sponsored by Wood.
What is the current status of AB 532?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 10, 2021. Enacted.
Where can I track AB 532?
Track AB 532 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on AB 532

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of AB 532

Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →