Health care coverage: autism.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. A violation of those provisions is a crime. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires every health care service plan contract and health insurance policy to provide coverage for behavioral health treatment for pervasive developmental disorder or autism until January 1, 2017, and defines "behavioral health treatment" to mean specified services provided by, among others, a qualified autism service professional supervised and employed by a qualified autism service provider. Existing law defines a "qualified autism service professional" to mean a person who, among other requirements, is a behavior service provider approved as a vendor by a California regional center to provide services as an associate behavior analyst, behavior analyst, behavior management assistant, behavior management consultant, or behavior management program pursuant to specified regulations adopted under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act. Existing law requires a treatment plan to be reviewed no less than once every 6 months. Under existing law, the above provisions do not apply to certain types of health care coverage, including health care service plans and health insurance policies in the Medi-Cal program. This bill would, among other things, modify requirements to be a qualified autism service professional to include providing behavioral health treatment, which may include clinical management and case supervision under the direction and supervision of a qualified autism service provider. The bill would require that, unless a treatment plan is modified by a qualified autism service provider, utilization review be conducted no more than once every 6 months. The bill would also provide that coverage for behavioral health treatment for pervasive developmental disorder or autism would be dependent on medical necessity, subject to utilization review, and required to be in compliance with federal mental health parity requirements. The bill would extend the operation of these provisions to January 1, 2022. The bill would require behavioral health treatment for purposes of the Medi-Cal program to expressly comply with the approved Medicaid state plan. The bill also would make clarifying and conforming changes. By extending the operation of these provisions, the violation of which by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.