Medi-Cal: comprehensive medication management.

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. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law provides for a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program, which includes outpatient prescription drugs, subject to utilization controls and the Medi-Cal list of contract drugs. This bill would provide that comprehensive medication management (CMM) services, as defined, are a covered benefit under the Medi-Cal program, and would require those services to include, among other things, the development and implementation of a written medication treatment plan that is designed to resolve documented medication therapy problems and to prevent future medication therapy problems. The bill would require the department to evaluate the effectiveness of CMM on quality of care, patient outcomes, and total program costs, as specified.