California governor signs historic package of MH bills

Abstract

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 25 signed into law a package of mental health–related bills that puts California at the forefront of efforts by states to address a mental health crisis that has been worsening for years and is being amplified by the COVID‐19 pandemic, the Steinberg Institute reported. The new laws will make it easier for Californians to get mental health treatment covered by their private health insurer, will expand the mental health workforce by making greater use of peer support specialists and will facilitate the ability of counties to get severely mentally ill people into outpatient treatment. The bill also will require insurers, when making level‐of‐care determinations, to use objective criteria spelled out in the federal court ruling in Wit v. United Behavioral Health, the landmark case that found the insurer used flawed criteria it developed in‐house to justify denials of care (see MHW, Sept. 11). Among the bills is AB 1976, which amends the bill known as Laura's Law, making it permanent and requiring all counties to implement the program, unless they formally opt out of doing so.