Health care affordability.

Assembly Member Ransom's proposal to establish a Patient Advocate Advisory Standing Committee within California's Health Care Affordability Board aims to formalize patient representation in health care cost policy decisions. The committee would comprise eight representatives from patient advocacy organizations, equally distributed across chronic conditions, rare diseases, terminal illnesses, and mental or behavioral health conditions.

The committee would convene at least four public meetings annually to gather community input on health care access challenges and potential solutions. These meetings would generate recommendations for improving care quality and accessibility for patients across the specified condition categories while addressing affordability concerns. The Health Care Affordability Board would incorporate these findings into its annual report, as mandated by state law.

This addition to the existing Health Care Affordability framework, which currently analyzes market trends and develops cost control strategies, would take effect by June 2026. The measure maintains the Board's core functions of establishing statewide health care cost targets, defining sector-specific standards, and determining exemption criteria, while creating a dedicated channel for incorporating patient perspectives into these decisions.