Public health: lactation services and equipment.

Existing law provides for the California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC Program) administered by the State Department of Public Health and counties, under which nutrition and other assistance is provided to eligible low-income postpartum and lactating women, infants, and children under 5 years of age. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services, including breastfeeding services, are provided to qualified low-income persons. Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to streamline and simplify existing Medi-Cal program procedures in order to improve access to lactation supports and breast pumps among Medi-Cal recipients. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to coordinate with the State Department of Health Care Services and Covered California to develop processes, procedures, and an electronic interface for eligibility-related information sharing to streamline enrollment into the WIC Program as part of the application process for Medi-Cal and health plans offered through the California Health Benefit Exchange. The bill would require the California Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment, and Retention System (CalHEERS) and the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) to identify individuals who may be eligible for the WIC Program and, by certain dates, provide electronic access to program applications in a certain format, as specified, if an electronic application is available. The bill would require that these provisions be implemented only to the extent that funding is available, as specified. This bill would also require the State Department of Public Health to coordinate with the State Department of Health Care Services, through a stakeholder engagement process, as specified, to develop measures and outcomes for breastfeeding rates, as specified. The bill would require the recommendations from the stakeholder engagement process to be posted on the departments' Internet Web sites by January 1, 2018.