Medi-Cal: fraud assessment task force.

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons pursuant to a state plan. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the department to convene a task force of specified members by no later than January 1, 2027, to conduct a comprehensive assessment of fraud risks in the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require the task force, within 6 months of formation, to review current fraud prevention tools, analyze data-sharing gaps, and evaluate how best practices from the federal government and other states could be applied in California. The bill would require the task force to submit specified recommendations based on this assessment to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by no later than January 1, 2028.