Cervical cancer screening.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide details about penalties for non-compliance with the new coverage requirement.

Cervical Cancer Screening Home Test Kits

AB-1906 requires health insurance plans and Medi-Cal to cover annual cervical cancer screening home test kits without cost sharing, starting January 1, 2027.

What This Bill Does

• Requires health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies issued after January 1, 2027, to provide coverage for an annual cervical cancer screening home test kit upon a doctor's referral.
• Includes cervical cancer home test kits as a covered benefit under the Medi-Cal program without cost sharing, starting January 1, 2027.

Who It Names or Affects

• People with health insurance or Medi-Cal coverage
• Health care providers who refer patients for cervical cancer screening

Terms To Know

Medi-Cal

A government program that provides free or low-cost healthcare to people with limited income and resources in California.

Cost sharing

When a patient pays part of the cost for medical care, such as copayments or deductibles.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if federal Medicaid rules do not allow coverage for home test kits.
• It is unclear how much it will cost to implement this program and who will pay for it.

Official Summary Text

AB 1906, as introduced, Aguiar-Curry.
Cervical cancer screening.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2002, to provide coverage for an annual cervical cancer screening test upon the referral of the patient’s health care provider.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which health care services are provided to low-income individuals pursuant to a schedule of benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and
funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. An annual cervical cancer test for screening or diagnostic purposes, upon the referral of a patient’s physician, is a covered benefit under the Medi-Cal program to the extent required or permitted by federal law.
This bill would require a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, to provide coverage without cost sharing for an annual cervical cancer screening home test kit upon the referral of the patient’s health care provider. Because a willful violation of the bill’s requirements relative to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also include cervical cancer home test kits, upon the referral of a patient’s health care provider, as a covered benefit under the Medi-Cal program on or after January 1, 2027, without cost sharing, to the extent required or permitted by
federal law.
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.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF