Medi-Cal: alcohol and drug screening and brief intervention services.

Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. This bill would establish the Medi-Cal Alcohol and Drug Screening and Brief Intervention Services Program, which would be administered by the department, in consultation with the State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, for the purpose of increasing the state's ability to make available alcohol and drug screening and brief intervention services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are pregnant women or women of childbearing age by authorizing a public entity, as defined, to provide or contract for these services for Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are pregnant women or women of childbearing age. The bill would require the department to administer the program in accordance with federal certified public expenditure requirements in certifying that a claimed expenditure for alcohol and drug screening and brief intervention services is eligible for federal financial participation. This bill would require the nonfederal share of expenditures submitted to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for purposes of claiming federal financial participation for services provided pursuant to the program to be comprised of only those funds that are paid by a public entity and certified in accordance with federal certified public expenditure requirements. The bill would require the department to promptly seek any necessary federal approvals for the implementation of the program. The bill would provide that participation in the program would be voluntary for a qualifying Medi-Cal beneficiary. The bill would also require the fact of whether a beneficiary participates in the program, and the results of any screening done under the program, to be maintained in the beneficiary's confidential medical records, as provided.