Medi-Cal: Community Health Navigator Program.

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 requires that counties administer public social services, including Medi-Cal. Existing law also authorizes a county to collaborate with a community-based organization to maintain up-to-date contact information in order to assist with timely submission of annual reaffirmation forms, among others. This bill, commencing January 1, 2023, would require the department to create the Community Health Navigator Program to make direct grants to qualified community-based organizations, as defined, to conduct targeted outreach, enrollment, retention, and access activities for Medi-Cal-eligible individuals and families. The bill would specify the basis for issuing a grant, including specified factors in the applicant's service area. The bill would authorize the department to contract with one or more private foundations to assist the department with administering the grant application and allocation process. The bill would require the department to contract with specified providers to furnish training and technical assistance to grant recipients. The bill would also require the department to coordinate and partner with Covered California and counties that elect to participate, on an approach for outreach, enrollment, retention, and access activities for marketing to eligible individuals, including facilitation of quarterly meetings on enrollment and access barriers and solutions, among other requirements. The bill would become operative only upon an express appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for the purposes of the bill.