“As your Senator, I have consistently voted to protect the Affordable Care Act from President Trump’s attacks, expand access to care for all Californians, limit prescription drug costs, and hold insurance companies accountable.”
– Senator Steve Glazer
Strengthening California’s health care system.
- Voted to expand subsidies that help middle-class families buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (Obamacare). (SB 78)
- Voted to preserve Covered California’s 90-day annual open enrollment period, providing consumers with adequate time to shop, compare, and choose the best health plan option. (AB 156)
- Voted to extend “continuity of care” protections that guarantee patients sufficient time to complete treatment and/or find new doctors if they have to switch plans through no fault of their own. (SB 133)
- Voted to banning “surprise medical bills” from health plans when patients utilize in-network facilities and that facility, unbeknownst to the patient, incurs higher outside expenses and seeks to bill the patient. (AB 72)
- Voted to expand the availability of hospice care. (SB 294).
- Voted to exclude money saved in College 529 Plans from assets counted against Medi-Cal eligibility. (AB 1785)
- Voted for the Mental Health School Services Act, which will dramatically expand the availability of mental health counseling and treatment through the schools in partnership with county mental health agencies. (SB 75)
- Voted to extend the voluntary tax check-off to fund breast cancer research. (SB 440)
Holding drug and insurance companies accountable.
- Voted to require health plans to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they collect on health services rather than administration, marketing or profit. (AB 2499)
- Voted to make California the first state in the nation to ban “pay for delay” agreements where brand name drug manufacturers pay another company not to produce a generic version of a drug whose patent has just expired. (AB 824)
- Voted to forbid pharmaceutical companies from giving meals, gifts or entertainment to doctors and health care professionals. (SB 790)
- Voted to require every health plan in California comply with non-discrimination measures, strengthen consumer protections, and align language assistance standards, regardless of any federal changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that may be made. (SB 223)
- Voted to preserve limits on co-pays for prescription drugs. (SB 1021)
- Voted for the Prescription Price Transparency & Public Disclosure Act requiring drug companies to give advance notice of large price hikes in a 2-year period. (SB 17)
Expanding the availability of Health Care.
- Voting to study a ‘Public Option’ to provide universal health care in California. (AB 2472)
- Voted to restore Medi-Cal benefits that were cut during the recession, including audiology, optical, podiatry, speech therapy (SB 78) and dental benefits. (SB 97)
- Voted to expand Medi-Cal to cover assisted living and not just nursing home care. (AB 2233)
- Voted to permit undocumented Californians to purchase health insurance through Covered California. (SB 10)
- Voted to increase funding for supportive housing for the homeless or people at risk of homelessness, based on research showing that secure housing is one of the best things we can do to keep people healthy. (AB 97)
Curbing the use of tobacco by minors.
- Wrote legislation to ban the sale of flavored vaping products, which have been marketed to children. (SB 38)
- Wrote legislation to ban smoking in state parks and on state beaches. (SB 8)
- Voted to prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors and extend existing laws regulating tobacco products to electronic cigarettes. (SBX2-5)
- Voted to raise the minimum age to purchase or consume tobacco from 18 to 21. (SBX2-7)
Imposing transparency and strict oversight on California’s health care system.
- Voted to increase disclosure and scrutiny of nursing home operators who own more than 5% of any business providing goods or services to that nursing home. (AB 1953).
- Voted to require disclosure by manufacturers of cleaning products of all chemicals and other ingredients and any known health risks. (SB 258)
- Voted to close loopholes in existing law by extending the Attorney General’s review and oversight of nonprofit health facility transactions to include a nonprofit hospital’s attempts to eliminate or reduce emergency medical services. (SB 687)
- Voted to strengthen the authority of air pollution control officials to order an interim abatement of emissions in hazardous circumstances. (AB 1132)
- Voted to create a CALTRANS Environmental Justice Committee to monitor and make recommendations on how to reduce toxic pollution in disproportionately affected communities. (AB 179)
- Voted to create a stakeholder working group in the Dept. of Public Health to develop guidelines regarding opioid prescription addiction and abuse. (AB 715)