AB 3059: Human milk.

Existing law licenses and regulates tissue banks and generally makes a violation of the requirements applicable to tissue banks a crime.

This bill would specify that a general acute care hospital is not required to have a license to operate a tissue bank to store or distribute pasteurized donor human milk that was obtained from a tissue bank licensed by the State Department of Public Health. The bill would exempt from licensing requirements a hospital storing or distributing human milk obtained from a licensed tissue bank. The bill would require hospitals that collect, process, store, or distribute human milk in any other circumstance to obtain a tissue bank license. To the extent that the bill would expand the class of hospitals subject to tissue bank licensing requirements, thereby expanding a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, requires the Department of Managed Health Care to license and regulate health care service plans and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Other existing law requires the Department of Insurance to regulate health insurers. Existing law requires health care service plans and health insurers, as specified, to provide certain health benefits and services, including, among others, maternity hospital stays, inpatient hospital and ambulatory maternity services, and maternal mental health programs. Existing law generally requires a health care service plan or health insurance policy to provide an enrollee or insured with basic health care services, as specified.

This bill would include, in the above-described basic health care services, medically necessary pasteurized donor human milk obtained from a tissue bank licensed by the State Department of Public Health.

Because a violation of the bills provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.