About Us | Chapters | Advertising | Join
The Legislature has resumed, and bills are currently being introduced. CAMFT will review legislation and the Legislative Committee will establish bill positions in March.
AB 1400 (Kalra) Single Payer - This two-year bill would have established a single-payer system in California and included a governing board for a single-payer system failed passage on January 31, 2022. This means the bill is not moving forward. This bill did NOT include the funding mechanism for the estimated $222 billion program. CAMFT’s Legislative Committee adopted a monitor position when this bill was introduced last year.
ACA 11 (Kalra) Single Payer Tax Constitutional Amendment – Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 11 authorizes new taxes to fund single-payer by raising income, gross receipt, and corporate taxes in California. This measure requires a 2/3rds vote by the Legislature, and if passed, an initiative will be placed on the California ballot for approval by voters. It is anticipated that this measure will not move forward in the Legislature this year, because the companion bill, AB 1400 has died. The CAMFT Legislative Committee will continue to monitor this measure and issue.
CAMFT encourages all members to visit CAMFT’s Legislative Action Page to learn about all of the bills CAMFT follows, including in-depth descriptions, legislative analyses, and up-to-date status reports. You can also subscribe here to CAMFT’s Action E-Lerts for CAMFT emails on key pieces of legislation.
On January 10, 2022, the Governor introduced the 2022-23 State Budget Proposal. This is the largest budget proposal in California’s history and includes several items to address the behavioral healthcare access in California. CAMFT is reviewing the Governor’s January proposal to identify items impacting CAMFT members and to elevate the profession.
Medi-Cal Expansion: The Governor’s budget proposes to expand Medi-Cal coverage to remaining uncovered undocumented population; currently Medi-Cal covers undocumented ages 26 and under, and seniors over the age of 65. Governor Newsom has promoted this as the solution to Universal Healthcare Coverage. If approved by the Legislature, then there are legal options available for every California resident to obtain health care coverage.
CAMFT staff attended the Board of the Behavioral Sciences (BBS) Policy and Advocacy committee (P&A) meeting on January 21,, 2022. The P&A committee began the complicated discussion regarding the practices of life coaches and pastoral counseling as it relates to consumer protection and state licensing laws. CAMFT is seeking clarification to help identify when “life coaching” meanders into therapy and what role BBS plays to enforce the licensing practice acts.
On January 27th, the BBS’ Telehealth Committee met to discuss allowable locations for pre-licensee work settings. Prior to this hearing, CAMFT submitted numerous clarifying questions in a joint letter with NASW-CA and CALPCC. That letter is included in the Telehealth Committee meeting materials that can be found here.
The Department of Managed Healthcare’s (DMHC) conducts investigations of all full-service commercial health plans to assess barriers practitioners experience in providing behavioral health services. The investigations also seek to identify systemic changes that could be made to improve the delivery of behavioral health care.
In 2022, five health plans will be investigated, including interviews with providers. The interviews allow the DMHC to gain a comprehensive understanding of provider-specific barriers and challenges.
MFTs with experiences with the health plans listed below should contact the DMHC directly via email at ProviderBHI@dmhc.ca.gov or via phone at (279) 666-5858 to schedule an interview.
For more information about the behavioral health investigations, please use the following link, DMHC Behavioral Health Investigations.
Return to Newsletter