SACRAMENTO – Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) issued the following statement today after the Assembly passed AB 2352, legislation Pérez authored to extend from one year to two years the anti-rejection medication organ transplant patients need to ensure their transplants are not rejected:

“When you sign up to be an organ donor, what you’re really doing is donating life, and I wrote this bill to make sure that this precious gift isn’t thrown away for lack of basic medication. My mother was unfortunately unable to receive the organ transplant she needed, and I know there are mothers, fathers, brothers and daughters of countless other Californians out there that are going through the same trials my family did. The anti-rejection medication AB 2352 provides will help ensure those patients who do receive an organ transplant survive the process, and help them and their families get through what is probably one of the most difficult periods of their lives.”

AB 2352 provides that Medi-Cal beneficiaries shall remain eligible to receive Medi-Cal coverage for anti-rejection medication for up to two years following an organ transplant, unless during that period the beneficiary becomes eligible for Medicare or private health insurance that would cover the medication.

AB 2352 now goes to the governor’s desk. See the attached document for more details on the bill.

Website of Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker