More new laws 2021: Reporting COVID cases
Fewer new laws than usual will kick in for 2021, given that the coronavirus pandemic shortened and dominated the Legislature’s 2020 session.
Millions of Californians continue to risk COVID-19 infection by showing up in person at work during the pandemic.
But the state and federal governments have never required companies to share information about outbreaks with their employees — or to health authorities.
More than nine months after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the first shelter-in-place order, a new state law will require businesses — and the State Health Department — to report more COVID data.
The law requires businesses to notify employees within 24 hours if they’ve been exposed at work.
And companies have to report outbreaks — defined as more than two positive cases within two weeks — to health authorities.
The law gives more enforcement power to CalOSHA, the state’s workplace safety agency, including the ability to shut down businesses if they find workers in imminent danger.
It’s still unclear how the data will be presented to the public.
While unions backed a provision that would have required the state to disclose every workplace outbreak online, business interests — led by the California Chamber of Commerce — argued the move would only shame companies.
So, the bill was watered down. It requires the state to report workplace outbreaks — not by employer or location, but by industry.
Assemblymember Eloise Gomez Reyes, who introduced the new law, says she wants the state
to disclose every workplace outbreak online.
For now, California’s businesses must follow new regulations set by Cal/ OSHA to protect workers from getting coronavirus on the job.
California widens mental health conditions insurers must cover
If you break your leg or need heart surgery, your insurance covers it. But that hasn’t always been true for mental illness and substance use disorders. A new 2021 law in California could improve that, broadening the list of mental health conditions insurers must cover.
In the past, state law only required treatment for nine serious mental illnesses. Even before the pandemic, more than half of Californians said most people with mental health conditions couldn’t get the help they needed. Some families even dropped private insurance to qualify for treatment in the public mental health system.
California’s new law will expand the list of conditions commercial insurers must cover. It includes medically necessary care for all mental health and substance use disorders.
During the pandemic, our nation’s mental health is getting worse. Nearly a third of people say they’re anxious or depressed.
Over and over, legislation to expand mental health coverage and enforcement in California failed. The insurance industry blocked past attempts to change the law. It says new requirements would increase consumer costs. The new law’s supporters disagree. They say it will greatly expand access to mental health treatment in the state, and make California a leader for the rest of the country.