Newsom Signed California's Ban on Forfeited ABA Hours. It Starts January 1.

On September 19 we reported that AB 2233 was on Governor Newsom's desk with a September 30 deadline. He signed it on September 27, and it was filed the same day as Chapter 591, Statutes of 2026. It takes effect January 1, 2027, about three months from now.

What's new since our first story

• It's law. It was signed, not left to become law without a signature, and there's no signing message.
• The text didn't change. The chaptered version says a plan or insurer “shall not impose restrictions on the utilization of authorized treatment hours within the six-month authorization period, including weekly caps or limitations that result in the forfeiture of unused hours.”
• The same day, Newsom signed two more ABA bills. AB 375 brings paraprofessionals into the state's telehealth law. SB 874 requires background checks for Medi-Cal BHT staff by July 1, 2027.

The turn: no renewal trigger

The same statute's rediagnosis ban applies to contracts “issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.” The new hours clause has no such trigger, so the text doesn't tie it to a plan's renewal date. Plans may still read it differently for an authorization that's already running on January 1.

The conditions haven't moved either. Hours carry over only “if the use of the hours is reasonably consistent with the treatment plan and clinical guidelines, and is documented in the treatment plan and progress reports.” Plans also keep utilization review and prior authorization.

The limits

The law reaches plans regulated by DMHC and insurers regulated by CDI. It excludes “a health care service plan contract in the Medi-Cal program,” and it doesn't reach self-funded employer plans. No regulator has issued guidance on how it will enforce the clause.

What you must know or do

• Billers: find every commercial authorization with a weekly cap that runs past January 1, and write down its plan and regulator (DMHC, CDI or self-funded). Then ask each DMHC or CDI plan in writing how it'll treat hours from January 1 onward within that authorization.
• Clinical directors: for any client who'll need make-up hours after January 1, put the plan for them in the treatment plan now. Carry it through each progress report. Undocumented make-up hours aren't protected.
• Owners: don't move Medi-Cal scheduling rules on the strength of this law. It doesn't apply there.