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JULY 2026

CalDerm is tracking over 100 bills this legislative cycle that directly impacts dermatology practice in California . Your membership dues directly help the Legislative Committee to advocate on your behalf to maintain our ability to practice as board certified dermatologists across California. The bills we are tracking focus on scope of practice, reimbursement, health mandates, artificial intelligence, and patient safety. As an organization through our advocacy efforts for our members behalf had have wins and losses this legislative cycle.

The California legislature is currently in summer recess until reconvening on August 3^rd. The Governor has until September 30^th to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature.

From the Clinic to the Capital: Dr. Min Speaks up for Dermatology

The initial draft of SB 1094 (Weber Pierson) proposed to authorize a pharmacist to select an alternative biosimilar when filling a prescription order for a prescribed biologic product if the prescriber does not personally indicate in a specified manner that a substitution cannot be made. The bill proposed to have a 30-day notice to physicians of the biologic therapy switch for a specific patient.

CalDerm and Political Solutions met with the Senator’s office to discuss proposed amendments and recently CalDerm Legislative committee member Dr. Michelle Min, MD testified on behalf of CalDerm during the Assembly Business and Professions Committee meeting on our suggested amendments of extending the notice to physicians from 30 to 60 days and ensure that if a physician selects ‘do not substitute’ that additional documentation will not be required by the plans provided the drug is on formulary. She shared the negative impact disruptions of biologic therapy can have on dermatology patients dealing with complex chronic conditions. We are pleased to report that the Senator’s office was receptive to the suggested amendments after CalDerm’s statement. This was a huge advocacy win for CalDerm to avoid disruptions in therapy for our patients stable on biologics.

Saving Skin Under the Dome: Dermatologists Bring Skin Cancer Screening at the Capitol

CalDerm with collaboration with Political Solutions restarted the first annual skin cancer screening community event on the West Lawn of the state Capitol. CalDerm members Drs. Jason Castillo, Ted Jacoby, Jayne Joo, Ariel Park, Lily Park, Jerome Potozkin, Hege Grande Sarpa, and Danielle Yee served as volunteer screeners. Medical students Grecia Ortiz Flores, Sukjun (James) Lee, Josh Perez, and Linh Tran also volunteered at the event where we screened over 100 community members. We plan to continue this annual event while working on legislation to improve skin cancer awareness across the state.

Stopping Automatic Downcoding: The Fight Continues

AB 2431 (Patel) was a bill introduced this cycle that was aimed to prohibit automatic downcoding for medical claims and require that any downcoding decision would be made by a licensed physician who would review the medical record rather than review of only the claim form. CalDerm alongside numerous state medical specialty societies supported this bill. Unfortunately, it is held under submission in committee which means that the bill did not advance further in the process this legislative cycle. We will continue to advocate on your behalf to address the harmful impact of automatic downcoding on patient care.

Your Voice. Your Profession. Your PAC

We encourage members to support our efforts through contributions to the CalDerm PAC led by PAC President Dr. Jerome Potozkin. Your contributions as committee members, volunteers, or PAC donors ensure that we have a strong voice in Sacramento, protecting patients, preserving access to care, and advancing our specialty. We also encourage you to invite your colleagues to join as members of CalDerm to further support our efforts across California.