The Final Decisions about Caregiving-Related Legislative Bills Are In–Outcomes of the California 2024 Legislative Session
October 9, 2024
For the second year in a row, California grappled with a state budget deficit, affecting what policies lawmakers chose to introduce, and leading to cost being the number one reason for Governor Newsom to veto a bill.
Despite these constraints, elected officials and advocates (including FCA) were able to make some important changes to improve the lives of California family caregivers and their care recipients. These changes include:
Two bills that will increase access to Paid Family Leave for family caregivers
Thanks to AB 2123, introduced by Assemblymember Papan, starting January 1, 2025, family caregivers in California will be able to apply for Paid Family Leave to provide up to 8 weeks of care, without having to use any of their vacation time for this purpose first.
Bill Sponsors: Legal Aid at Work
SB 1090 (Senator Durazo) passing means that Californian caregivers and other individuals can soon apply and find out if they are approved for Paid Family Leave up to a month before the start of their leave. This change will occur when the Employment Development Department makes planned improvements to their system (called EDDNext). The exact date is to be announced.
Bill Sponsors: Legal Aid at Work, CA Work and Family Coalition
Most medical debt will be left off credit Reports
Thanks to SB 1061 (Senator Limón), California will join states like Colorado and New York to strike most medical debt from credit reports. Most, because despite the author’s original broad intent, the final bill unfortunately does not include debt charged to medical credit cards or specialty loans. As the bill author says in this CalMatters article, “The bill ‘does not forgive debt, but it does ensure that when it’s not reported we don’t negatively impact credit scores for a lifetime for people.’” This is a win for family caregivers with medical debt who shouldn’t have to struggle for years to come to get approved for a rental or a mortgage because of their important role as a caregiver.
Bill Co-Sponsors: Attorney General Rob Bonta, California Nurses Association, CALPRIG, Consumer Federation of California, Health Access California, National Consumer Law Center
Law Enforcement will be required to develop guidelines to address wandering related to dementia
AB 2541 (Assemblymember Bains) was signed into law by Governor Newsom on World’s Alzheimer’s Day, as part of a package of laws to support older Californians and their family members. AB 2541 requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to work with subject matter experts to develop training with guidelines on how to address wandering associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and autism. This training will play an important role in saving lives since it is critical to locate people who have wandered as quickly as possible.
Bill Sponsors: Alzheimer’s Los Angeles, Alzheimer’s Orange County, and Alzheimer’s San Diego
Hospital case manager or discharge planner to discuss and assess interest in In-Home Supportive Service (IHSS) with patients with a terminal illness on Medi-Cal
Assemblymember Alvarez introduced AB 1005 last year based on his own experience as a family caregiver. The bill focuses on improving the process of getting a Health Care Certification Form (referred to as SOC 873) from a physician. This certification, which declares that the applicant is unable to perform some activities of daily living and needs assistance, is a required part of the IHSS application. This bill would require that, prior to discharge, a hospital case manager or discharge planner meet with Medi-Cal patients diagnosed with a terminal illness anticipated to need home care and tell them about the IHSS program. The information should include instructions for how to apply for IHSS, and the option for a family member to be the IHSS care provider. If the patient is interested in IHSS, the discharge planner is required to communicate this to the patient’s primary care physician to help secure the necessary Health Care Certification Form.
While we celebrate these wins, not everything made it across the finish line this year. Notably, some bills that did not advance, or were vetoed, were bills that would have
- expanded paid family leave to care for chosen and extended family,
- guaranteed a minimum reimbursement rate for Community-Based Adult Services–also known as Adult Day Health Programs (AB 2428), and
- launched a rental subsidy pilot in five counties designed to prevent evictions of older adults and people with disabilities (SB 37).
Back to the budget briefly:
Historically, during a budget deficit, services for older adults have been one of the things on the chopping block. Advocates celebrated that this year, that largely was not the case. The final budget retained items like funding for Adult Protective Services expansion and training and an increase in the provider rate for Community-Based Adult Services (CBAS or Adult Day Health Programs), who have struggled to operate at a reimbursement rate that doesn’t cover inflation ($76 dollars a day per person, when the true cost is $122). The budget line item to increase CBAS rates is very exciting news for these vital health and social programs, which offer caregivers respite and help older adults remain living at home. However, this increase came with the big asterisk. The source of the money is the Managed Care Organization (MCO) Tax, but if Prop 35 on the November 2024 ballot passes, this tax revenue will be spoken for by other Medi-Cal providers, and the State Legislature will lose the flexibility to allocate this funding for CBAS and other programs that they have identified for this and upcoming budget years. This San Francisco Chronicle Article does a good job of explaining the implications of Prop 35.
We hope these policies create some additional ease in your life as a family caregiver and we look forward to partnering with you to continue to push forward legislation in the future. If you are interested in becoming more involved in California caregiver policy, we invite you to join the California Coalition on Family Caregiving, convened by FCA and other partners.