Health Care & Reproductive Rights

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today celebrated three bills he sponsored — Assembly Bills (AB) 1854 (Krell), 1930 (Zbur), and 2448 (Berman and Bauer-Kahan) — being signed into law over the weekend by Governor Gavin Newsom. The new laws strengthen protections for patients and providers of reproductive and gender-affirming care in California — a direct response to ongoing attacks on these essential services by the Trump Administration and Republican officials nationwide. All three measures take effect on January 1, 2027.

“Patients and providers should not be punished for accessing or providing healthcare that is legal in our state,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “These new laws give California stronger tools to protect sensitive health information and defend reproductive and gender-affirming services against out-of-state interference. I thank Governor Newsom and the Legislature for ensuring California remains a national leader in this fight and for making clear that we will not be intimidated into abandoning our values.”

Clarifying California Shield Laws 

AB 1854, authored by Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), expands California’s reproductive shield laws and prohibits California businesses and individuals that provide financial services from complying with out-of-state legal demands for protected information. It also clarifies that law enforcement cannot arrest someone if the Governor denies an extradition request — relevant in light of Louisiana’s attempt earlier this year to extradite a California abortion provider, which Governor Gavin Newsom rejected.

“I wrote AB 1854 to protect California doctors and patients from out-of-state efforts to reach across our borders and punish people for accessing or providing reproductive healthcare that is legal here,” said Assemblymember Maggy Krell. “California has enshrined the right to abortion in our Constitution — we’re not going back.”

Defending Protected Healthcare in California 

AB 1930, authored by Democratic Caucus Chair and Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood) and co-sponsored by Equality California, requires business entities in California to notify the Attorney General if they intend to respond to a subpoena or inquiry regarding abortion or gender-affirming care and would authorize the Attorney General to intervene to prevent disclosure of protected abortion or gender-affirming care information.

“California will not allow our institutions to be used to target patients and providers for accessing or providing abortion or gender-affirming care that is legal in our state,” said Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur. “AB 1930 strengthens California’s shield laws by giving California’s Attorney General the opportunity to step in before California entities produce information in response to subpoenas or other demands involving legally protected care — helping protect the privacy and safety of patients and providers. I’m grateful to Attorney General Bonta and Equality California for sponsoring this legislation, and to Governor Newsom for signing it into law and standing with us to strengthen these critical protections.”

"The Trump Administration is weaponizing the legal system to target gender-affirming and reproductive healthcare and attempting to access information on TGI youth. California has a responsibility to protect people seeking healthcare that is legal in our state from politically motivated attacks and invasions of privacy,” said Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang. “AB 1930 strengthens California’s ability to serve as a firewall for privacy, safety and medical freedom. We are grateful to Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur for his leadership, to the Legislature for passing this critical legislation and to Governor Newsom for signing it into law. Because of their actions, people can access care without fear that their personal information will be weaponized against them.” 

Protecting Privacy of Patient Data

AB 2448, authored by Assemblymembers Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) and Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) and co-sponsored by Planned Parenthood of California, ensures that healthcare providers have enabled the technological safeguards to segregate sensitive health data in electronic medical records. It advances California’s commitment to protecting the confidentiality of medical information by requiring entities that maintain electronic health records for sensitive services to implement meaningful, operational protections to secure that data.

“In the years since Roe was overturned, attacks on reproductive and gender-affirming care have steadily intensified, threatening access to healthcare services for millions of Californians," said Assemblymember Marc Berman. “In these dangerous times, it is critical that medical providers have access to technology to protect sensitive medical information so that patients who have received reproductive and gender-affirming care cannot be identified and targeted. I am proud to have partnered with Attorney General Bonta, Planned Parenthood, and Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan on AB 2448, and thank Governor Newsom for signing this medical privacy bill that requires the implementation of this technology. All Californians deserve access to critical healthcare services without fear.” 

“Thank you to Attorney General Bonta, Assemblymember Berman, and Planned Parenthood for being such strong partners in getting this done,” said Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan. “Patients deserve to know that when they walk into a doctor’s office, their most personal information will be treated with the care and confidentiality it deserves. I’m proud that California continues to lead in protecting patient privacy.”

“Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California is proud to co-sponsor AB 2448 alongside Attorney General Bonta to ensure healthcare entities have access to the technology they need to fulfill California’s commitment to protecting patient privacy,” said President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California Jodi Hicks. “We are grateful to Governor Newsom for signing this critical bill into law and affirming what we know to be true: all patients deserve access to the healthcare they need without fear of legal or criminal consequences.”

OAKLAND — As part of a coalition of 15 attorneys general, California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week secured a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington that continues blocking the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) effort to terminate federal funding that helps schools recruit and train mental health professionals and provide essential mental health services. Congress established the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program and the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program following the school shootings in Parkland, FL and Uvalde, TX to address shortages of school-based counselors, psychologists, social workers, and other mental health professionals, particularly in high-need schools. The new ruling continues to block the Department’s termination plan, which the court first halted through a temporary restraining order earlier this year.

“The Trump Administration has repeatedly tried to cut critical mental health funding for schools, and we haven’t hesitated to fight back,” said Attorney General Bonta. “This preliminary injunction keeps these vital resources available to students and families who need them the most. We will keep holding this Administration accountable and defending the rule of law.” 

After Attorney General Bonta and a coalition of attorneys general successfully blocked the Department’s earlier effort to discontinue these grants, the Department announced a new plan to end the funding under a different regulation, leading the coalition to file a lawsuit that resulted in the preliminary injunction.

The court granted the coalition’s motion for a preliminary injunction because it found that the attorneys general are likely to succeed in showing that the Department’s termination plan is unlawful. The court found that the Department sought to re-evaluate grants based on new priorities that did not exist when grantees applied for the funding and failed to adequately consider grantees’ reliance on that funding. The court also found that the Department did not provide grantees with the notice and opportunity to be heard required before terminating the funding. 

Joining Attorney General Bonta in challenging the Department’s termination plan are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Multistate coalition announces preliminary approval of plan to distribute funds to consumers following multiple settlements with drug manufacturers accused of conspiring to inflate prices of generic drugs

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today urged consumers to check their eligibility for compensation for certain generic drug purchases and to submit a claim for compensation. This month, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut granted preliminary approval of a plan, filed by California and a coalition of 47 other states and territories, to distribute settlement funds paid by generic drug manufacturers in exchange for settlement of claims that those companies illegally conspired to raise the prices of generic drugs.  

If you purchased a generic drug listed here between May 2009 and December 2019, you may be eligible for compensation. To determine your eligibility, call 1-866-290-0182 (Toll-Free), email info@AGGenericDrugs.com, or visit www.AGGenericDrugs.com. The deadline to submit a claim is March 8, 2027.

“As a result of our efforts to hold generic drug manufacturers accountable for illegally conspiring to drive up prices, consumers may now be eligible to receive compensation,” said Attorney General Bonta. “I encourage anyone who purchased an eligible medication to take a few minutes to check their eligibility and submit a claim to recover money they may be owed.”

The coalition previously announced settlements with the manufacturers Glenmark, Lannett, Bausch, Apotex, Heritage, and Heritage’s parent company, Emcure, totaling approximately $96.5 million. The multistate coalition’s distribution plan aims to return millions of dollars from those settlement funds to those potentially harmed by the elevated prices of the generic drugs that are the subjects of those settlements.

Attorney General Bonta and the coalition of nearly all states and territories engaged in a series of antitrust cases, starting in 2016. The first complaint included Heritage and 17 other corporate defendants, two individual defendants, and 15 generic drugs. The second complaint was filed in 2019 against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 21 of the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers. The complaint names 16 individual senior executive defendants. The third complaint, to be tried first, focuses on 80 topical generic drugs that account for billions of dollars of sales in the United States and names 26 corporate defendants and 10 individual defendants. The states filed a fourth complaint earlier this year, alleging that Novartis AG, Sandoz Group AG, and Sandoz AG, are liable for Sandoz’s alleged conduct and for fraudulently transferring assets. Seven pharmaceutical executives have been cooperating to support the states’ claims in these cases. 

The above-mentioned cases stem from a series of investigations built on evidence from several cooperating witnesses at the core of the different conspiracies, millions of documents, and a massive phone record data base. Each complaint addresses a different set of drugs and defendants and lays out an interconnected web of competing industry executives who regularly met and communicated with each other, providing ample opportunity to form illegal agreements. The complaints note that defendants used terms like “fair share,” “playing nice in the sandbox,” and “responsible competitor” to unlawfully discourage competition, raise prices, and enforce an ingrained culture of collusion.

Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming in today’s announcement.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced co-leading a coalition of 22 attorneys general and the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in urging U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to keep federal vaccine recommendations grounded in science and medical evidence. In a letter responding to HHS’s request for information on vaccine recommendations and shared clinical decision-making, the coalition warns that HHS’s actions over the past year — including efforts to weaken the childhood vaccine schedule and sideline the experts responsible for developing federal vaccine recommendations — have created confusion and made it harder for states to rely on federal public health guidance. The letter urges HHS to halt additional changes that could lower vaccination rates and leave more people vulnerable to preventable disease.

“The Trump Administration cannot point to public distrust as a reason to change vaccine policy while ignoring how its own actions have fueled that distrust. It’s pure hypocrisy,” said Attorney General Bonta. “My fellow attorneys general and I will continue to hold HHS accountable when it attempts to undermine public health.” 

In the letter, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition urge HHS to:

• Examine its own role in undermining public trust through its recent changes to vaccine policy. HHS has not identified a change in the scientific evidence on vaccine safety or effectiveness that would justify overhauling the current recommendation categories. Instead, the coalition points out that recent federal actions have contributed to the very public distrust HHS says it wants to address.
• Preserve the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) role in setting vaccine recommendations. ACIP is a 17-member federal advisory body whose science-based recommendations form the bedrock of federal vaccine policy, as Congress intended, and serve as a cornerstone of state health codes. In June 2025, Secretary Kennedy dismissed all 17 ACIP members and quickly reconstituted it with new members who did not undergo the typical vetting process. The coalition warns that replacing ACIP with the Task Force for Safer Childhood Vaccines, which HHS reinstated in August 2025 after nearly three decades of dormancy, would undermine ACIP’s critical role. The 2025 reconstitution of ACIP is also the subject of ongoing litigation.
• Retain the current vaccine recommendation categories. Under the current three-tiered recommendation structure for vaccines — routine, risk-based, and Shared Clinical Decision-Making (SCDM) — most vaccines are routinely recommended, while SCDM allows providers and patients or caregivers to weigh a vaccine’s benefits and risks based on individual circumstances. These categories have historically provided clear, efficient, and evidence-based guidance for states’ public health and Medicaid programs. The coalition notes that the RFI specifically asks about SCDM after HHS recently moved to expand its use, including for the hepatitis B vaccine birth dose, without identifying new scientific evidence to support the changes. SCDM is appropriate only in limited circumstances, and its misuse threatens public health.

The letter comes as Attorney General Bonta continues challenging the Trump Administration’s changes to federal vaccine policy. In February 2026, he co-led a multistate lawsuit challenging the administration’s overhaul of the childhood immunization schedule. This month, a federal judge ruled that the coalition has standing to challenge the CDC’s changes to the childhood immunization schedule.

Joining Attorney General Bonta in the letter are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, the Commonwealth of Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

OAKLAND — As part of a coalition of 24 attorneys general, California Attorney General Rob Bonta submitted a comment letter opposing a proposed Trump Administration rule that would unlawfully force states to change how they fund Medicaid. Medicaid is the nation’s safety net healthcare program for low-income Americans and is jointly funded by states and the federal government, with the federal government providing at least 50% of the cost of services. States use Medicaid provider taxes — healthcare-related taxes levied on providers and other healthcare entities — to help finance their share of Medicaid costs. A proposed rule by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), intended to implement the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, would significantly limit states’ ability to use provider taxes and force them to find other ways to cover Medicaid costs. In doing so, CMS goes beyond what Congress required in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is already having serious consequences for Americans across the country and will continue to do so, and now the Trump Administration is trying to make matters worse,” said Attorney General Bonta. “This proposed rule would restrict states’ use of provider taxes and force them to find other ways to pay their share of Medicaid costs. It is unlawful and should be withdrawn or significantly changed.”

According to KFF, CMS projects no enrollment losses as a result of the proposed rule, while the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the changes could leave 1.2 million more people uninsured by 2034, raising questions about the proposed rule’s impact on coverage. The comment letter identifies several additional concerns, including that the proposed rule:

• Would improperly interfere with state regulation of health insurers. For the first time, CMS would penalize states for collecting taxes and payments from health insurance companies by reducing the amounts the states would receive for Medicaid. This would violate the law, threaten states’ Medicaid programs, and improperly interfere with states’ regulation of health insurance.
• Improperly applies new limits to collection of taxes and payments from health insurers. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act imposes new limits on some taxes and payments collected by states. CMS’s proposed rule would apply those limits to taxes and payments on health insurers, but that is neither required nor allowed under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.  
• Eliminates a 30-year-old safety valve. CMS has also proposed to change its criteria for determining when taxes and payments will reduce federal Medicaid contributions. But some of these criteria were written into federal law by Congress and can’t be changed by CMS.
• Piles on costly new paperwork. States could have to reconstruct financial records going back to mid-2025 and build entirely new reporting systems from scratch. 

In submitting the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a statement after closing arguments concluded in the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit against Heartbeat International (HBI), a national anti-abortion group, and RealOptions Obria (RealOptions), a chain of five crisis pregnancy centers in Northern California. Filed in September 2023 in Alameda County Superior Court, the lawsuit alleges that HBI and RealOptions use false and misleading claims to advertise “abortion pill reversal” (APR), an unproven experimental procedure, in violation of California’s False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law. DOJ’s presentation of the state’s case during today’s closing arguments is available online. The court is expected to issue a decision within 90 days. 

“California law protects consumers from false and misleading claims, including when they are making deeply personal healthcare decisions. Today, we wrapped up our case against HBI and RealOptions for advertising abortion pill reversal as safe and effective without credible scientific evidence,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Our goal is simple: to stop that deceptive advertising. The evidence presented at trial supports our position, and we look forward to the court’s decision.”

Medication abortion typically uses a combination of two drugs — mifepristone and misoprostol — taken within 24 to 48 hours of each other to terminate a pregnancy. HBI and RealOptions falsely claim that if a pregnant person takes high doses of the hormone progesterone after taking the first drug, mifepristone, it will safely and effectively cancel the effects of the mifepristone. Despite the lack of scientific evidence and uncertainty about its efficacy and safety, HBI and RealOptions falsely and illegally advertise APR as a valid and successful treatment option and do not adequately warn patients about potential side effects, including the risk of severe bleeding.

HBI operates the “most expansive network” of “pro-life pregnancy resource centers” and runs the Abortion Pill Reversal Network, including its website and hotline, through which it refers patients for and promotes APR. RealOptions, which is incorporated in California, advertises APR as a service available at all of its clinics. 

If you have questions about or are looking for information on or assistance with reproductive healthcare, there are a number of trusted programs that can help you in your search, including California Abortion Access, which provides a safe space to access detailed guidance and resources on abortion care. California protects the privacy of those who visit this website, and their information is not saved or tracked.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general and two governors in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over recent efforts to upend the Title X federal family planning program. For over 50 years, the Title X program has provided access to effective contraceptive methods, cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted illnesses, and other preventive services through a nationwide network of clinics that are the only source of healthcare for millions of people. Earlier this summer, the Trump Administration issued its Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) which outlined what Title X grantees must do to obtain funding. The Trump NOFO transforms this crucial program by requiring all Title X grantees to modify their existing programs to align with a number of political priorities including anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion, anti-gender ideology, and directive counseling. In the lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that the NOFO’s provisions undercut the purpose of Title X and violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) along with the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“Title X is about making family planning and reproductive care accessible to all, but President Trump is trying to use ideologically driven conditions to unravel this historically bipartisan safety net and fashion it into a political bludgeon,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Conditioning millions of dollars in federal funding doesn’t make America healthier, it makes care harder. That’s why we’re taking the Trump Administration to court, to safeguard access to this critical care for everyone — including the over 460,000 individuals in California who rely on Title X for healthcare services. Let me be clear: California will remain ironclad in protecting reproductive care.”   

BACKGROUND

Title X enjoys bipartisan support, and Congress has funded it continuously for over 50 years. It is the only federal funding stream dedicated specifically to supporting family planning methods and services, such as contraception, infertility services, access to birth control, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted illnesses, and cancer screenings. These services have been critical in helping millions of people, especially low-income women, control their own reproductive decision-making and improve their social and economic futures. For every dollar invested in publicly funded family planning programs like Title X, federal and state governments save taxpayer funds by preventing unintended pregnancies, adverse birth effects, sexually transmitted illnesses, and cervical cancer. California has the largest Title X program in the nation, providing services to over 460,000 residents, but the imposition of the Trump Administration’s NOFO now leaves communities at risk of losing funds for quality, evidence-based family planning services. 

The new guidelines impose requirements on the grantees themselves — including grantees in California — forcing them to align with a number of Trump Administration priorities that conflict with Title X’s intent. Those priorities include ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, excluding and stigmatizing transgender individuals, targeting providers of gender-affirming care, elevating natural family planning over other forms of birth control, and displacing patient-directed family planning. Several aspects of the NOFO would turn the Title X program on its head. For instance, Trump’s new Title X program would require all patients be counseled towards marriage and parenthood. Grantees will also be assessed for demonstrations of ongoing compliance with the Administration’s priorities and require demonstrations of ongoing compliance, further threatening whether states and other grantees will be able to receive funding.

In the lawsuit, the coalition argues that the new conditions are: 

• Arbitrary and capricious in violation of the APA and conflict with Title X law and regulations as well as the congressional purpose underpinning Title X.
• In violation of the APA without observance of procedure required by law.
• Unconstitutionally vague and in violation of the Spending Clause because they do not give applicants fair notice of the conditions for receiving or maintaining Title X funding.

In filing this lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

OAKLAND — Co-leading a multistate coalition alongside the attorneys general of Massachusetts and New Jersey, California Attorney General Rob Bonta yesterday secured a major victory after the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts struck down a key provision of a Trump Administration final rule that would have excluded coverage of certain types of gender-affirming care as essential health benefits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Essential health benefits are subject to the ACA’s financial protections, including limits on out-of-pocket costs.

“Everyone deserves access to health coverage,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The Trump Administration tried to exclude gender-affirming care from qualifying as an essential health benefit. We fought back, and the court’s ruling means this care can — and in many states must — qualify for the ACA’s financial protections, ensuring transgender people have an equal opportunity to benefit from the ACA.”

The final rule at issue — the “Marketplace Integrity and Affordability” rule — was proposed by the Trump Administration in March 2025 to curb alleged ACA enrollment fraud and reduce federal spending on subsidies that help consumers afford ACA coverage. Among other changes, the rule would have removed certain types of gender-affirming care from the ACA’s 10 essential health benefit categories. 

In July 2025, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging nine separate provisions of the final rule, arguing that they would make it harder for consumers to get coverage through the ACA, increase costs for states, and weaken key ACA protections. Seven were later vacated in separate litigation, City of Columbus et al. v. Kennedy et al., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that the Trump Administration unlawfully modified the categories of essential health benefits without following the proper procedures the ACA requires.

Settlement will result in total payments of approximately $469 million to state enforcers by Sandoz 

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 43 states and territories in announcing a $400 million settlement in principle with Sandoz Inc. to resolve allegations that the generic drug manufacturer engaged in widespread, long-running conspiracies to artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition, and unreasonably restrain trade with regard to numerous generic prescription drugs. If approved, Sandoz Inc. will pay a total of approximately $469 million to settle the claims brought by state enforcers, including amounts paid pursuant to previous settlements with other states. The settlement will also resolve allegations that Sandoz Inc.’s past and present international affiliates — Novartis AG, Sandoz AG, and Sandoz Group AG — participated in the alleged anticompetitive conduct and fraudulently transferred assets in order to avoid liability. As part of the settlement in principle, Sandoz has agreed to meaningful injunctive terms including a series of internal reforms to ensure fair competition and compliance with antitrust laws. This settlement is contingent upon obtaining signatures from all necessary states and territories and comes as the States prepare for an anticipated trial in 2027. The States have also secured settlements in the same litigation with Glenmark, Lannett, Bausch, Apotex, and Heritage, totaling approximately $96.5 million.

“When companies illegally manipulate the market to keep drug prices high, consumers pay the price,” said Attorney General Bonta. “This latest settlement reflects our commitment to holding bad actors accountable and protecting competition. We will continue to use every available tool to promote a fair marketplace for consumers.”

Attorney General Bonta is part of a coalition of nearly all states and territories that has pursued a series of antitrust cases since 2016. The first complaint included Heritage and 17 other corporate defendants, two individual defendants, and 15 generic drugs. Two former executives from Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Jeffery Glazer and Jason Malek, have since entered into settlement agreements and are cooperating. The second complaint was filed in 2019 against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 20 of the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers. The complaint names 16 individual senior executive defendants. The third complaint, to be tried first, focuses on 80 topical generic drugs that account for billions of dollars of sales in the United States and names 26 corporate defendants and 10 individual defendants. The States filed a fourth complaint earlier this year, alleging that Novartis AG, Sandoz Group AG, and Sandoz AG, are liable for Sandoz’s alleged conduct and for fraudulently transferring assets. Seven pharmaceutical executives have been cooperating to support the States’ claims in these four cases.

The cases all stem from a series of investigations built on evidence from several cooperating witnesses at the core of the different conspiracies, a massive document database of over 20 million documents, and a phone records database containing millions of call detail records and contact information for over 600 sales and pricing individuals in the generics industry. Each complaint addresses a different set of drugs and defendants and lays out an interconnected web of competing industry executives that met with each other during industry dinners, “girls’ nights out,” lunches, cocktail parties, golf outings and communicated via frequent telephone calls, emails and text messages that sowed the seeds for their illegal agreements. Throughout the complaints, defendants use terms like “fair share,” “playing nice in the sandbox,” and “responsible competitor” to describe how they unlawfully discouraged competition, raised prices, and enforced an ingrained culture of collusion. Among the records obtained by the States is a two-volume notebook containing the contemporaneous notes of one of the States’ cooperators that memorialized his discussions during phone calls with competitors and internal company meetings over a period of several years. 

Attorney General Bonta is joined in securing this settlement in principle by the attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Coalition sues over federal rule that reinstates provisions blocked by a federal court and adds new harmful changes

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today co-led a coalition of 21 attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania in filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to challenge a federal rule that once again illegally undermines the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and would make health insurance more expensive and harder to obtain for millions of Americans. The lawsuit seeks to block provisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2027 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters, a federal rule that sets standards for health plans offered in 2027 and was opposed by the coalition in a March 2026 comment letter. Among other harmful changes, the rule expands eligibility for catastrophic health insurance plans that are ineligible for premium tax credits, offer only limited coverage, and can leave consumers facing significantly higher out-of-pocket costs than standard ACA plans. The rule also allows catastrophic and bronze plans to exceed ACA limits on maximum annual out-of-pocket costs, increasing the financial burden on consumers, and attempts to reinstate several provisions that a federal court recently found to be unlawful. The coalition argues these and other provisions unlawfully undermine the ACA’s goal of expanding access to affordable healthcare by increasing costs, reducing enrollment, and shifting financial burdens onto consumers, states, and healthcare providers.

“The Affordable Care Act was designed to make healthcare more affordable and accessible. But once again, this Administration is moving in the wrong direction by adopting harmful provisions that push consumers into bare-bones plans and strip away critical protections,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We are returning to court to challenge these unlawful changes. At a time when families are already facing rising costs, they cannot afford to pay more for coverage that gives them less.” 

Congress enacted the ACA to expand access to affordable health insurance, and more than 23 million Americans currently receive coverage through its marketplaces. California has approximately two million ACA plan enrollees, the third highest of any state. Today’s lawsuit follows the coalition’s challenge to the Trump Administration’s similar 2025 ACA Marketplace rule. Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts held a hearing on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment in that case, with a final decision expected at a later date. In related litigation, a federal court last month vacated several provisions of the Administration’s 2025 rule — including provisions at issue in this case — after finding that they violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The Administration’s new rule setting standards for 2027 health plans, which is the subject of this lawsuit, brings back many of the same provisions and adds new changes that further undermine the ACA. HHS estimates the new rule will cause two million people to lose coverage in 2027 alone and a total of five million by 2030.

In today’s lawsuit, the coalition argues that the new rule:

• Reimposes provisions that a federal court has already vacated — including additional income verification requirements and penalties for consumers who do not complete tax-credit paperwork — without addressing the court’s legal concerns.
• Unlawfully expands eligibility for catastrophic health plans beyond the limits established by Congress in the ACA.
• Unlawfully allows catastrophic and bronze plans to exceed ACA limits on maximum annual out-of-pocket costs.
• Will increase costs, reduce enrollment, and shift financial burdens onto consumers, healthcare providers, and states.
• Was adopted without adequate explanation or a meaningful response to the coalition’s comments, making it arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.

In filing today’s lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta co-led the coalition alongside New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport. They were joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.