September 16th, 2025
The Honorable Gavin Newsom
California State Governor
1021 O Street, Suite 9000
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Request for Signature of SB 306 (Becker)
Dear Governor Newsom,
Mental Health America of California (MHAC) is pleased to support Senate Bill 306 (Becker), legislation that would exempt commonly approved healthcare services from requiring prior authorization.
MHAC is a peer-run organization leading the state in behavioral health public policy and advocacy since 1957. The mission of MHAC is to assist and encourage communities, families and individuals to experience hope, wellness and recovery from mental health and substance use disorder issues through voluntary services that are delivered in their local community with compassion and respect for everyone’s dignity and autonomy.
Commonly covered mental health and substance use services include various forms of therapy, counseling. and medication management. This bill ensures that health plans that approve 90% or more of prior authorization requests for a given service in the previous year must exempt that service from prior authorization for the following year. This will help streamline access to commonly utilized mental health and substance use services and ensure more timely care.
It is for these reasons that MHAC supports SB 306 (Becker) and asks for your signature. If you have any questions, or if MHAC can provide any assistance on this bill or any behavioral health legislation, please do not hesitate to contact me at kvicari@mhac.org or our Public Policy Coordinator, Danny Thirakul, at dthirakul@mhac.org.
In Community,
Karen Vicari
Director of Public Policy
Mental Health America of California
