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. Under existing law, these health care services are provided through various delivery systems, including fee-for-service and managed care. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into various types of contracts for the provision of services to beneficiaries, including contracts with a Medi-Cal managed care plan. Existing law imposes various requirements on managed care plan contractors, including network adequacy standards relating to time and distance, and requires the department to ensure that specified benefits, such as mental health, are provided by the contractors in compliance with prescribed federal law. Existing federal law authorizes specified managed care entities that participate in a state's Medicaid program to cover, for enrollees, services or settings that are in lieu of services and settings otherwise covered under a state plan. Existing law requires the department to establish a Medically Tailored Meals Pilot Program to operate for a period of 4 years from the date the program is established, or until funding is no longer available, whichever date is earlier, in specified counties to provide medically tailored meal intervention services to Medi-Cal participants with prescribed health conditions, such as diabetes and renal disease. Effective for contract periods commencing on or after January 1, 2022, this bill would authorize Medi-Cal managed care plans to provide medically tailored meals to enrollees. The bill would authorize the department to implement this provision by various means, including plan or provider bulletins, and would require the department to seek federal approvals. The bill would condition the implementation of this provision on the department obtaining federal approval and the availability of federal financial participation.