Medi-Cal.

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and 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. This bill would make a change to an obsolete reference to the former Healthy Families Program, whose health services for children have been transitioned to the Medi-Cal program. The bill would make a change to an obsolete reference to the former Access for Infants and Mothers Program and would revise a related provision to instead refer to the successor Medi-Cal Access Program. The bill would delete, within certain Medi-Cal provisions, obsolete references to a repealed provision relating to nonprofit hospital service plans. Existing law establishes, under Medi-Cal, the County Health Initiative Matching Fund, a program administered by the department, through which an applicant county, county agency, local initiative, or county organized health system that provides an intergovernmental transfer, as specified, is authorized to submit a proposal to the department for funding for the purpose of providing comprehensive health insurance coverage to certain children. The program is sometimes known as the County Children's Health Initiative Program (CCHIP) . This bill would revise certain provisions to rename that program as CCHIP. Existing law requires the Director of Health Care Services to enter into contracts with managed care plans under Medi-Cal and related provisions, including health maintenance organizations, prepaid health plans, or other specified entities, for the provision of medical benefits to all persons who are eligible to receive medical benefits under publicly supported programs. This bill would delete that list of entities and would instead specify that the director would be required to enter into contracts with managed care plans licensed pursuant to the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, except as otherwise authorized under the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require the director, prior to issuing a new request for proposal or entering into new contracts, to provide an opportunity for interested stakeholders to provide input to inform the development of contract provisions. The bill would also make technical changes to some of the provisions described above.