CMA's 50th Legislative Advocacy Day February 1, 2024 Advocacy, Legislation legislative day, MCO tax, prior authorization On April 10th, ACCMA members went to the State Capitol and attended the California Medical Association’s 50th Annual Legislative Day. Our physicians had the opportunity to meet with East Bay Legislators to discuss health care related issues. Some of those issues were: Preserve the Managed Care Organization (MCO) Budget – It is imperative that the Legislature upholds the MCO tax agreement which is reflected in the Governor’s January proposal. In the budget last year they passed to invest billions of dollars in the Medi-Cal system. It included: Make the Medi-Cal provider rate increases that were included in the 2023-2024 state budget deal permanent, fulfilling the state’s promise to physicians. Expand access to health care Medi-Cal patients, resulting in reduced emergency room usage, and shortened wait times for all Californians. Increases funding for mental health programs that care for children and Medi-Cal patients. SB 516 (Skinner) Prior Authorization – This bill would be the vehicle we use to pass prior authorization reform. It was held in Assembly Appropriations Committee last year and all of our East Bay Legislators voted in favor of this bill. The bill would remove unnecessary prior authorizations, streamline and modernize the process for submitting and appealing a prior authorization request, provide transparency and data on health plan actions, and require a physician of the same of similar specialty to conduct appeals of a prior authorization denial. SB 1120 (Becker) Health Care Coverage: Utilization Review – This bill would require that a licensed physician or health care provider have final approval of any utilization review decisions made or assisted by AI decision-making tools or algorithms used by a health care insurer and we ask for a support/sponsor of this bill. This bill would ensure physician oversight when Artificial Intelligence is used for utilization review. If you have any questions about the above health care related issues that were discussed at Legislative Day, please contact Mr. David Lopez at dlopez@accma.org.