BILL NUMBER: SB 41	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE   SEPTEMBER 9, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   JULY 2, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   JUNE 16, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 26, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   MARCH 23, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   FEBRUARY 9, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Speier
   (Principal coauthor:  Assembly Member Hertzberg)
   (Coauthors:  Senators Alpert, Bowen, Chesbro, Costa, Figueroa,
Hayden, Karnette, Murray, Ortiz, Perata, and Solis)
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Alquist, Aroner, Calderon, Davis,
Firebaugh, Honda, Jackson, Keeley, Knox, Kuehl, Lempert, Longville,
Mazzoni, Shelley, Steinberg, Strom-Martin, Villaraigosa, Washington,
and Wildman)

                        DECEMBER 7, 1998

   An act to add Section 10123.196 to the Insurance Code, relating to
disability insurance.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 41, Speier.  Disability insurance:  contraceptive coverage.
   Existing law governing disability insurance imposes certain
requirements relating to coverage for certain benefits and services.

   This bill would require certain individual and group policies of
disability insurance that are issued, amended, delivered, or renewed
on or after January 1, 2000, to provide coverage, under the same
terms and conditions applicable to other benefits, for a variety of
federal Food and Drug Administration approved prescription
contraceptive methods, subject to exemption for religious employers,
as specified.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the Women's
Contraception Equity Act.
  SEC. 2.  Section 10123.196 is added to the Insurance Code, to read:

   10123.196.  (a) Every individual and group policy of disability
insurance issued, amended, renewed, or delivered on or after January
1, 2000, that provides coverage for hospital, medical, or surgical
expenses, shall provide coverage for the following, under the same
terms and conditions as applicable to all benefits:
   (1) A disability insurance policy that provides coverage for
outpatient prescription drug benefits shall include coverage for a
variety of federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved
prescription contraceptive methods, as designated by the insurer.  If
an insured's health care provider determines that none of the
methods designated by the disability insurer is medically appropriate
for the insured's medical or personal history, the insurer shall, in
the alternative, provide coverage for some other FDA approved
prescription contraceptive method prescribed by the patient's health
care provider.
   (2) Outpatient prescription coverage with respect to an insured
shall be identical for an insured's covered spouse and covered
nonspouse dependents.
   (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to deny or restrict
in any way any existing right or benefit provided under law or by
contract.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require an
individual or group disability insurance policy to cover experimental
or investigational treatments.
   (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
religious employer may request a disability insurance policy without
coverage for contraceptive methods that are contrary to the religious
employer's religious tenets.  If so requested, a disability
insurance policy shall be provided without coverage for contraceptive
methods.
   (1) For purposes of this section, a "religious employer" is an
entity for which each of the following is true:
   (A) The inculcation of religious values is the purpose of the
entity.
   (B) The entity primarily employs persons who share the religious
tenets of the entity.
   (C) The entity serves primarily persons who share the religious
tenets of the entity.
   (D) The entity is a nonprofit organization pursuant to Section
6033(a)(2)(A)(i) or (iii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended.
   (2) Every religious employer that invokes the exemption provided
under this section shall provide written notice to any prospective
employee once an offer of employment has been made, and prior to that
person commencing that employment, listing the contraceptive health
care services the employer refuses to cover for religious reasons.
   (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to exclude coverage
for prescription contraceptive supplies ordered by a health care
provider with prescriptive authority for reasons other than
contraceptive purposes, such as decreasing the risk of ovarian cancer
or eliminating symptoms of menopause, or for prescription
contraception that is necessary to preserve the life or health of an
insured.
   (f) This section shall only apply to disability insurance policies
or contracts that are defined as health benefit plans pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 10198.6, except that for accident only,
specified disease, or hospital indemnity coverage, coverage for
benefits under this section shall apply to the extent that the
benefits are covered under the general terms and conditions that
apply to all other benefits under the policy or contract. Nothing in
this section shall be construed as imposing a new benefit mandate on
accident only, specified disease, or hospital indemnity insurance.