Medically supportive food.

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, including enteral nutrition products, pursuant to a schedule of benefits, and subject to utilization controls, such as prior authorization. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law, until January 1, 2021, or as otherwise specified, requires the department to establish a 3-year pilot program in specified counties, including the Counties of Alameda and Sonoma, to provide medically tailored meals, as defined, to Medi-Cal participants with specified health conditions, such as cancer and renal disease. This bill would require the department to establish, no earlier than January 1, 2021, a pilot program for a 3-year period in the County of Alameda to provide medically supportive food, such as healthy food vouchers or renewable food prescriptions, as a covered benefit for a Medi-Cal beneficiary who has a specified chronic health condition, including diabetes or heart disease, when utilizing evidence-based practices that demonstrate the prevention, reduction, or reversal of those specified diseases. The bill would authorize the department, in consultation with stakeholders, to establish utilization controls, including the limitation on the number of services, and to enter into contracts for purposes of implementing the pilot program. The bill would require the department to evaluate the pilot program upon its conclusion, to report to the Legislature on those findings, and to implement these provisions by various means, including provider bulletins, without taking regulatory action. The bill would condition the implementation of these provisions to the extent permitted by federal law, the availability of federal financial participation, and the department securing federal approval, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2026. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Alameda.