California HIV bill
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signs into law Assembly Bill 1984, which requires health care service plans and insurers to provide HIV testing regardless of its relation to a primary diagnosis, on Oct. 1. Introduced by Assembly Member Paul Krekorian, D-Burbank, the law is a "first-in-the-nation piece of legislation," according to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The measure is intended to help the state comply with revised HIV testing guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control in 2006. AB 1984 had been held up as California legislators grappled with passing a fiscal 2009 budget (1"The Gray Sheet" Sept. 8, 2008, p. 19)