Health.

The California Senate Committee on Health has introduced comprehensive legislation to streamline healthcare regulations and enhance mental health services across multiple state agencies and programs. The bill modifies reporting requirements for health facilities, expands language access in medical certification programs, and updates notification procedures for hospital financial assistance policies.

The legislation changes how health facilities submit patient safety plans, moving from annual to biennial submissions while maintaining existing plan content requirements covering patient safety events, root cause analyses, and staff training. Health facilities must analyze patient safety events across demographic factors including age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, and preferred language to identify potential disparities.

For nurse assistant certification programs, the bill requires the state to offer Spanish language competency examinations by December 2025. It also specifies that at least two hours of the required 60-hour classroom training must address caring for patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

The measure allows hospitals to provide written notices about financial assistance policies electronically to patients who have consented to electronic communications, except for emergency room visits which must receive hard copies. Electronic notices must be sent separately from other communications and clearly indicate they contain information about discount and charity care policies.

The legislation also makes technical updates to various mental health programs, including renaming the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to reflect its expanded behavioral health responsibilities. It maintains existing funding allocation requirements and reporting mechanisms while updating references throughout state code to align with recent voter-approved changes to mental health services administration.