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View Winners → Portantino’s Bills to Increase Early Detection of Breast Cancer and Disaster Planning Bills Signed by Governor (AB 137 and AB 1650)
Arcadia Weekly Sep 25, 2012
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Over the weekend, Governor Brown signed Assemblymember Anthony Portantino’s legislation to ensure that more women have access to mammograms (AB 137) and legislation requiring investor-owned electric utilities and water companies to develop an emergency and disaster preparedness plan every two years (AB 1650) and to hold comprehensive disaster preparedness meetings with the counties and cities they service.
AB 137 eliminates outdated guidelines that have prevented younger women from receiving mammograms when medically necessary.
“In the past 20 years, our understanding of breast cancer detection and prevention has improved dramatically. We now know that women have a multitude of risk factors that fall outside the current ‘one size fits all’ health care policy,” explained Portantino. “With so many women diagnosed with breast cancer each year, our laws on breast cancer health insurance coverage should reflect all the latest advances in science and technology.”
AB 137 will update guidelines to the Insurance Code and will allow younger women to have a mammogram when medically necessary. Instead of basing the need for mammograms only on a woman’s age, AB 137 allows doctors to order diagnostic tests based on a more complete list of risk factors.
“I want to thank Governor Brown for recognizing the importance of this legislation in ensuring that all women get the best possible screening for early detection of breast cancer. I have introduced similar legislation four times since taking office in 2006 – and twice the bills were vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. I’m pleased to see that Governor Brown had the courage to stand up to the insurance lobby and sign this bill; it is good for the patient and in the long run, good for the insurance provider as early detection helps save lives and certainly saves health care dollars,” commented Portantino.
AB 137 will bring PPO’s in line with HMO’s with regard to mammogram screenings and will require coverage for mammograms based on medical necessity rather than a patient’s age. The measure goes into effect January 1, 2013.
Under AB 1650, investor-owned electric utilities and water companies will be required to begin their disaster preparedness meetings within three months of the legislation becoming law on January 1, 2013.
“We learned some things from the major wind disaster last December that change how we look at these events,” explained Assemblymember Portantino. “Having utilities review their plans every two years will force better coordination, better service and better public safety. Many ratepayers may not know that a portion of their utility bills is intended to pay for emergency preparedness; let’s make sure it does.”
The San Gabriel Valley was hit hard in early December 2012 by devastating winds that knocked out power to nearly a quarter of a million customers, some of them for more than a week. In a preliminary report, the California Public Utilities Commission stated that in some cases, Southern California Edison’s equipment did not meet safety standards and that the utility was slow to restore power to homes and businesses. Local utilities also had trouble with communications plans.
“The purpose of these meetings is to inform the counties of emergency planning and to offer County Public Works Departments and the public, the opportunity to review and improve those plans,” explained Portantino. “We saw in this last disaster that communications were often incomplete or confusing and the public really had no idea what was going on. We all know the “Big One” is coming – it’s just a matter of when – and we need to be prepared.”
