Calif. bill may set mental health disability cover standards

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, the lawmaker who introduced the bill, is a member of the Assembly Health Committee.

Severe mental illness “can be as disabling and debilitating as physical conditions,” Ammiano said in a statement.

Paul Riches, an Assembly Insurance Committee analyst, noted in an analysis that the bill is written in such a way that complying with it would require every insurer in the disability income insurance market to revise their policies and submit the revised policies to the California Department of Insurance for review.

“It is common for the department to take years to review and approve revised policies,” Riches said. “Accordingly, the author may wish to consider delaying implementation of this bill to allow insurers time to have their revised policies reviewed and approved by the department.”

When Riches prepared his analysis, the only interest group that had expressed an opinion about A.B. 402 was the California Psychological Association. The association said it supported the bill.

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