Medi-Cal benefits: rapid Whole Genome Sequencing.

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 pursuant to a schedule of benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. The Budget Act of 2018 appropriates $2,000,000 for the Whole Genome Sequencing Pilot Project, and requires the department to provide a grant to a state nonprofit organization for the execution of a one-time pilot project to investigate the potential clinical and programmatic value of utilizing clinical Whole Genome Sequencing in the Medi-Cal program. This bill would expand the Medi-Cal schedule of benefits to include rapid Whole Genome Sequencing, as specified, for any Medi-Cal beneficiary who is one year of age or younger and is receiving inpatient hospital services in an intensive care unit. The bill would authorize the department to implement this provision by various means without taking regulatory action.