Bill Commons

CA AB 2594

enacted

Voluntary employees' beneficiary association pilot program.

California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · lower

Follow this bill’s action updates (Atom)

Subscribe in a feed reader. The feed covers recorded actions from the last 30 days; Bill Commons may record an action after it happened at the legislature.

Quick answers

Did CA AB 2594 pass?

Yes. CA AB 2594 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-09-20): Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 404, Statutes of 2026.

What is CA AB 2594 about?

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. Existing law authorizes the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care to authorize a pilot program in southern California under which approved providers may undertake risk-bearing arrangements with a voluntary employees' beneficiary association with enrollment of more than 100,000 lives, as specified, beginning no earlier than January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2027, inclusive, if certain criteria are met. Existing law requires the association and each participating health care provider to report to the department information regarding cost savings and clinical patient outcomes compared to a fee-for-service payment model. Existing law requires the department to report those findings to the Legislature after the termination of the pilot program and before January 1, 2027. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2030. This bill would extend that repeal date to January 1, 2031. The bill would extend the end date of the pilot program to December 31, 2030, but would authorize the department to terminate the pilot program for specified reasons and would require the department to terminate the pilot program prior to the pilot program's end date based on any significant negative findings in any report, including if the department identifies any serious deficiencies that could cause enrollee harm. The bill would, instead of requiring the department to report findings to the Legislature after the termination of the pilot program, require the department to submit an interim report of the findings described above and policy recommendations regarding the continuation of the pilot program to the Legislature before January 1, 2029.

Who sponsors CA AB 2594?

Lowenthal is the primary sponsor of CA AB 2594.

Description

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. Existing law authorizes the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care to authorize a pilot program in southern California under which approved providers may undertake risk-bearing arrangements with a voluntary employees' beneficiary association with enrollment of more than 100,000 lives, as specified, beginning no earlier than January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2027, inclusive, if certain criteria are met. Existing law requires the association and each participating health care provider to report to the department information regarding cost savings and clinical patient outcomes compared to a fee-for-service payment model. Existing law requires the department to report those findings to the Legislature after the termination of the pilot program and before January 1, 2027. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2030. This bill would extend that repeal date to January 1, 2031. The bill would extend the end date of the pilot program to December 31, 2030, but would authorize the department to terminate the pilot program for specified reasons and would require the department to terminate the pilot program prior to the pilot program's end date based on any significant negative findings in any report, including if the department identifies any serious deficiencies that could cause enrollee harm. The bill would, instead of requiring the department to report findings to the Legislature after the termination of the pilot program, require the department to submit an interim report of the findings described above and policy recommendations regarding the continuation of the pilot program to the Legislature before January 1, 2029.

Introduced
2026-04-22
Latest action
2026-09-20 — Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 404, Statutes of 2026.
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Subjects

Sponsors

  • Lowenthalauthor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2026-09-20

    Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 404, Statutes of 2026.

    became-law

  2. 2026-09-20

    Approved by the Governor.

    executive-signature

  3. 2026-08-31

    Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.

    executive-receipt

  4. 2026-08-25

    Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0.).

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  5. 2026-08-25

    Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 6489.).

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  6. 2026-08-24

    In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

  7. 2026-08-24

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0.).

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  8. 2026-08-04

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  9. 2026-08-03

    From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.

    committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2

  10. 2026-06-29

    Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  11. 2026-06-25

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (June 24).

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,referral-committee

  12. 2026-06-08

    In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.

  13. 2026-05-27

    Referred to Com. on HEALTH.

    referral-committee

  14. 2026-05-14

    In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

    reading-1,referral-committee

  15. 2026-05-14

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 5056.)

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  16. 2026-05-07

    Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

    reading-1,reading-2

  17. 2026-05-06

    From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (May 6).

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  18. 2026-04-27

    Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    referral-committee

  19. 2026-04-23

    Read second time and amended.

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2

  20. 2026-04-22

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (April 21).

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,referral-committee

  21. 2026-03-09

    Referred to Com. on HEALTH.

    referral-committee

  22. 2026-02-21

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

  23. 2026-02-20

    Read first time. To print.

    reading-1

Versions

  • 02/20/26 - Introduced — 2026-02-20Compare
  • 04/23/26 - Amended Assembly — 2026-04-23Compare
  • 06/29/26 - Amended Senate — 2026-06-29Compare
  • 08/27/26 - Enrolled — 2026-08-27Compare
  • AB2594Compare
  • (document, no version)Compare

Documents

Votes

  • Do pass as amended, and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar

    2026-04-21 · pass · 16-0

    Member-level votes (16)
    • Patel: yes
    • Stefani: yes
    • Schiavo: yes
    • Ahrens: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Chen: yes
    • Bonta: yes
    • Rogers: yes
    • Sanchez: yes
    • Aguiar-Curry: yes
    • Carrillo: yes
    • Patterson: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Johnson: yes
    • Addis: yes
    • Sharp-Collins: yes

  • Do pass. To Consent Calendar.

    2026-05-06 · pass · 14-0

    Member-level votes (15)
    • Sharp-Collins: yes
    • Aguiar-Curry: yes
    • Solache: yes
    • Tangipa: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Dixon: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Ta: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Krell: yes
    • Hoover: yes
    • Arambula: other

  • AB 2594 Lowenthal Consent Calendar Second Day

    2026-05-14 · pass · 77-0

    Member-level votes (80)
    • Petrie-Norris: yes
    • Chen: yes
    • Bryan: yes
    • Berman: yes
    • Blanca Rubio: yes
    • Schiavo: yes
    • Kalra: yes
    • Johnson: yes
    • Wallis: yes
    • Rogers: yes
    • Macedo: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Aguiar-Curry: yes
    • Soria: yes
    • Muratsuchi: yes
    • Sanchez: yes
    • Quirk-Silva: yes
    • Lowenthal: yes
    • Solache: yes
    • Wilson: yes
    • DeMaio: yes
    • Lackey: yes
    • Hart: yes
    • Ortega: yes
    • Jeff Gonzalez: yes
    • Dixon: yes
    • Papan: yes
    • Davies: yes
    • Irwin: yes
    • Nguyen: yes
    • Ransom: yes
    • Lee: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Bennett: yes
    • Ward: yes
    • Krell: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Harabedian: yes
    • Alvarez: yes
    • Carrillo: yes
    • Ta: yes
    • Addis: yes
    • Ahrens: yes
    • Schultz: yes
    • Michelle Rodriguez: yes
    • Zbur: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Bains: yes
    • McKinnor: yes
    • Alanis: yes
    • Haney: yes
    • Ramos: yes
    • Tangipa: yes
    • Rivas: yes
    • Gallagher: yes
    • Calderon: yes
    • Stefani: yes
    • Connolly: yes
    • Ellis: yes
    • Bonta: yes
    • Ávila Farías: yes
    • Garcia: yes
    • Sharp-Collins: yes
    • Patel: yes
    • Elhawary: yes
    • Valencia: yes
    • Jackson: yes
    • Hoover: yes
    • Gipson: yes
    • Bauer-Kahan: yes
    • Gabriel: yes
    • Patterson: yes
    • Castillo: yes
    • Hadwick: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Boerner: yes
    • Arambula: other
    • Celeste Rodriguez: other
    • Flora: other

  • Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations]

    2026-06-24 · pass · 11-0

    Member-level votes (11)
    • Pérez: yes
    • Gonzalez: yes
    • Weber Pierson: yes
    • Caballero: yes
    • Smallwood-Cuevas: yes
    • Valladares: yes
    • Rubio: yes
    • Durazo: yes
    • Grove: yes
    • Padilla: yes
    • Menjivar: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2594

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-09-21T18:25:32.579903Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changesStatus and relationship changes

Session-wide evidence can include changes to other bills:

Bulk imports for this sessionSession dates and activity

Use this data

Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=CA&identifier=AB 2594. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.

Known limitations

  • Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
  • Committee referrals are not yet captured.
  • Some documents have no extracted text yet, so version comparison may be limited.

See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.