BILL NUMBER: AB 2127	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nestande

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2010

   An act to add Section 14133.67 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to Medi-Cal.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2127, as introduced, Nestande. Medi-Cal: nonemergency
transportation services: broker pilot program.
   Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the
State Department of Health Care Services, under which basic health
care services, including nonemergency medical transportation
services, are provided to qualified low-income persons.
   This bill would require the department to establish a 2-year pilot
program in at least 3 consenting counties to evaluate a nonemergency
medical transportation model in which the state would contract with
a broker to manage the provision of nonemergency medical
transportation services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
   This bill would require the department to monitor the pilot
program, evaluate the outcomes and savings, and provide the fiscal
committees of the Legislature with a report on its findings and
recommendations. If the department determines the pilot program to be
cost effective, the bill would authorize the department to implement
the program statewide at any time and continue operation of the
program indefinitely.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 14133.67 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:
   14133.67.  (a) For purposes of this section, "nonemergency medical
transportation broker model" means an arrangement in which the state
contracts with a broker to provide services ranging from the
management of the administrative tasks of screening transport
requests to the management of the full scope of the nonemergency
medical transportation benefit for purposes of this chapter.
   (b) The department shall establish a two-year pilot program to
evaluate a nonemergency medical transportation broker model.
   (c) The department shall select at least three consenting counties
to participate in the two-year pilot program. The counties the
department selects shall represent both rural and urban areas.
   (d) The department shall monitor the two-year pilot program,
evaluate the outcomes and savings, and provide the fiscal committees
of the Legislature with a report on its findings and recommendations.
If the department determines the pilot program is cost effective, it
may implement the program statewide at any time and continue
operation of the program indefinitely.
   (e) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the
department may implement, interpret, or make specific, this section
by means of written directives without taking further regulatory
action.