§ 1367.66

(a) Every individual or group health care service plan contract, except for a specialized health care service plan, issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2002, shall provide coverage for an annual cervical cancer screening test upon the referral of the patient’s physician and surgeon, a nurse practitioner, or a certified nurse-midwife, providing care to the patient and operating within the scope of practice otherwise permitted for the licensee.

(1) The coverage for an annual cervical cancer screening test provided pursuant to this section shall include the conventional Pap test, a human papillomavirus screening test that is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the option of any cervical cancer screening test approved by the FDA, upon the referral of the patient’s health care provider.

(2) This subdivision does not establish a new mandated benefit or prevent application of deductible or copayment provisions in an existing plan contract. The Legislature intends in this section to provide that cervical cancer screening services are deemed to be covered if the plan contract includes coverage for cervical cancer treatment or surgery.

(b) A health care service plan contract, except for a specialized health care service plan, issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2024, shall provide coverage for the human papillomavirus vaccine for enrollees for whom the vaccine is approved by the FDA. A health care service plan contract shall not impose a deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or any other cost-sharing requirement on the coverage provided pursuant to this subdivision.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 809, Sec. 3. (AB 659) Effective January 1, 2024.)