CA AB 2233: new version, 09/27/26 - Chaptered

California AB 2233 was chaptered on September 27, 2026, as Chapter 591, Statutes of 2026, after the Governor approved it the same day. The legislation amends existing requirements under the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, which governs the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and extends parallel requirements to health insurers regulated by the Department of Insurance. Under existing California law, health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies must cover behavioral health treatment for pervasive developmental disorder or autism, and that treatment must be delivered under a treatment plan reviewed no less than every 6 months by a qualified autism service provider. AB 2233 adds a new prohibition: health care service plans and health insurers are barred from imposing restrictions on the utilization of authorized treatment hours within a treatment plan's 6-month authorization period. The bill requires that authorized hours remain available for use throughout the full authorization period, provided the use of those hours is consistent with the treatment plan and applicable clinical guidelines, and is documented in the treatment plan and progress notes. The legislation does not create a new authorization mechanism; it constrains how plans and insurers may administer hours already authorized under an existing treatment plan. Because the Knox-Keene Act designates willful violations by a health care service plan as a crime, the bill is classified as a state-mandated local program. The Legislature determined that no state reimbursement to local agencies or school districts is required for costs associated with this mandate.