Medi-Cal: Drug Medi-Cal Program providers.

Existing law provides for the Drug Medi-Cal (DMC) Treatment Program, under which counties enter into contracts with the State Department of Health Care Services for providing various drug treatment services to Medi-Cal recipients, or the department directly contracts for those services if a county elects not to do so. Existing law requires the department to designate Medi-Cal providers as "limited," "moderate," or "high" categorical risk and to conduct criminal background checks on Medi-Cal providers that the department designates as "high" categorical risk. This bill would designate all DMC Treatment Program providers as "high" categorical risk and would make them subject to background checks, as provided. The bill would authorize the department, on and after January 1, 2018, to designate a DMC Treatment Program provider as "limited" or "moderate" categorical risk and, if it does so, would require the department to execute a declaration, to be posted on the department's Internet Web site, that states the reason that a "high" categorical risk designation is no longer warranted. The bill would require the department to transmit a copy of the declaration to the Legislature.