Commissioner Lara urges Governor Newsom to sign important consumer protections for Californians

News: 2024 Press Release

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is urging Governor Gavin Newsom to sign seven important consumer protection bills he is sponsoring that focus on improving the health outcomes and public safety of Californians.

“Legislation plays an essential role in safeguarding consumer interests and closing the protection gaps left by Prop. 103. Throughout my tenure as Insurance Commissioner, I have pursued these measures relentlessly to ensure fairness, transparency, and protection for all Californians,” said Commissioner Lara. “As consumers and homeowners continue to face threats to our health, safety, and insurance availability, I am committed to using every tool at our disposal to meet these challenges head on. From expanding our expert staff, to holding public hearings and gathering vital stakeholder input on necessary regulatory changes, to issuing critical bulletins and pursuing key legislation — we are taking comprehensive action now.”

These Commissioner-sponsored bills to increase consumers’ health and safety protections include:

• AB 2258, co-sponsored with APLA Health, Equality California, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and authored by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, would require health insurers and health plans to cover both recommended preventive care and health care that is covered under the federal Affordable Care Act’s preventive services mandate without out-of-pocket costs to consumers.
• AB 2780, co-sponsored with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and authored by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, would require commercial passenger transportation, prior to transporting 10 or more vulnerable passengers, to notify local authorities and follow basic requirements to ensure the safety of passengers at the point of disembarkation. This important piece of legislation would ensure California has the proper tools and support to welcome migrants in a humane manner and with the dignity and respect that migrants deserve.
• AB 2872, authored by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, would support the work of sworn officers at the California Department of Insurance who are the state’s leaders in preventing and stopping insurance fraud. This bill would help close the pay gap between the Department’s sworn fraud detectives and sworn officers in other state agencies, helping strengthen staff retention and enforcement efforts that protect public safety. 
• SB 729, co-sponsored with the Alliance for Fertility Preservation, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Equality California, Our Family Coalition, and RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association and authored by Senator Caroline Menjivar, would require disability insurance policies and large group health plans to provide coverage for fertility and infertility care, including in-vitro fertilization (IVF), and updates the definition of infertility to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ family planning experiences.  
• SB 990, co-sponsored with Equality California and the California Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus and authored by Senator Steve Padilla, updates the State Emergency Plan to include best practices for local government and non-governmental entities to equitably serve LGBTQ+ communities during an emergency or natural disaster. This responds to data showing that LGBTQ+ people are more likely to become homeless or face negative health impacts after a disaster.

Two other bills sponsored by Commissioner Lara address the historical injustice of the removal of Latino residents in the 1950s from the area that is now Dodger Stadium, and update important insurance laws:

• AB 1950, authored by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, would create the Chavez Ravine Displaced Residents Task Force, subject to appropriation by the State Legislature, to evaluate the history of the residents, business owners, and landowners displaced from Chavez Ravine for the purpose of providing compensation to those displaced from 1950 to 1961. The nine-member task force would develop recommendations for the City and County of Los Angeles and the State Legislature on how to compensate the displaced residents, or their descendants.
• SB 577, authored by Senator Melissa Hurtado, proposes amendments identified by the Department of Insurance that help clarify existing law, delete obsolete and superseded code sections, and create new laws agreed to between the Department and stakeholders.

Governor Newsom has already signed SB 263 (Chapter 2, Statutes of 2024), sponsored by Commissioner Lara and authored by Senator Bill Dodd, which helps California avoid federal preemption and creates additional consumer protections to ensure California’s insurance companies and licensed producers who sell annuities are following the highest standards of conduct.

A state lawmaker by training, Commissioner Lara sponsored 65 bills from 2019 to 2023 to address climate change, protect consumers, expand health access and reproductive care, preserve health protections, protect against fraud, and ensure public safety. With 44 bills signed into law, Commissioner Lara is considered the most successful legislative advocate to hold the position of Insurance Commissioner.

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