April 16th, 2025
The Honorable Caroline Menjivar
Chair, Senate Health Committee
1021 O Street, Room 3310
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: MHAC Support for SB 306 (Becker)
Dear Chair Menjivar,
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 or 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 MHAC supports SB 306 (Becker) and asks for your “Aye” vote. 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 hstrunk@mhac.org or our Director of Public Policy, Karen Vicari, at kvicari@mhaofca.org.
In Community,
Heidi L. Strunk
President & CEO
