Bill Text: CA AB470 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 470 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Medi-Cal: specialty mental health services: performance outcome reports.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-10-07 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 550, Statutes of 2017. [AB470 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB470-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 470

Introduced by Assembly Member Arambula

February 13, 2017

An act to add Section 14719 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to Medi-Cal.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 470, as introduced, Arambula. Medi-Cal: specialty mental health services: performance outcome system.

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which basic health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law provides that speciality mental health services are covered under the Medi-Cal program for eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries, including both adults and children, and coverage for those services is provided through mental health managed care plans. Existing law requires the department to develop a performance outcome system for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment mental health services provided to eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries under 21 years of age.

This bill would require the department to develop a performance outcome system for specialty mental health services provided to eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries 21 years of age and older. The bill would require the department, in collaboration with the California Health and Human Services Agency, to create a plan for a performance outcome system for specialty mental health services, and commencing no later than January 15, 2018, would require the department to convene a stakeholder advisory committee comprised of specified representatives, including consumer advocates and counties, to help create a plan for a performance outcomes system for specialty mental health services. The bill would require the department to consider specified objectives, including high-quality and accessible specialty mental health services for eligible adults, in developing the plan for a performance outcome system, and would require the plan to include metrics of timely access to services, language access, quality, and utilization. The bill would require the department to provide the plan to all fiscal committees and appropriate policy committees of the Legislature no later than December 31, 2018, and would require the department, no later than December 31, 2018, to propose how to implement the plan. The bill, commencing January 1, 2018, and at least quarterly thereafter, would require the department to convene a stakeholder advisory group to make recommendations to the department regarding additional performance and outcome measures, as specified. The bill, commencing January 1, 2019, would require the department to provide quarterly updates to the performance outcome system and would require the department to post those updates on the department’s Internet Web site.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 14719 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

14719.

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to develop a performance outcome system for specialty mental health services that will improve outcomes at the individual and system levels and will inform fiscal decisionmaking related to the purchase of services.

(b) The State Department of Health Care Services, in collaboration with the California Health and Human Services Agency, shall create a plan for a performance outcome system for specialty mental health services provided to eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries 21 years of age and older.

(1) Commencing no later than January 15, 2018, the department shall convene a stakeholder advisory committee comprised of representatives of consumer advocates, consumers, family members, counties, and the Legislature. This consultation shall inform the creation of a plan for a performance outcome system for specialty mental health services.

(2) In developing a plan for a performance outcome system for specialty mental health services, the department shall consider the following objectives, among others:

(A) High-quality and accessible specialty mental health services for eligible adults, consistent with federal law.

(B) Information that improves practice at the individual, program, and system levels.

(D) Reliable data that are collected and analyzed in a timely fashion.

(3) The plan for a performance outcome system for specialty mental health services shall consider evidence-based models for performance outcome systems, federal requirements, including the review by the External Quality Review Organization (EQRO) and the Medicaid Managed Care Quality Rating System, and, timelines for implementation at the provider, county, and state levels.

(4) At a minimum, the plan for the performance outcome system for specialty mental health services shall include metrics of timely access to services, language access, quality, and utilization.

(5) The plan for the performance outcome system for specialty mental health services shall include both statewide and plan-specific data for timely access to services, language access, quality, and utilization.

(c) The State Department of Health Care Services shall provide the performance outcome system plan, including milestones and timelines, for specialty mental health services described in subdivision (a) to all fiscal committees and appropriate policy committees of the Legislature no later than December 31, 2018.

(d) The State Department of Health Care Services shall propose how to implement the performance outcome system plan for specialty mental health services described in subdivision (a) no later than December 31, 2018.

(e) (1) Commencing no later than January 1, 2018, and at least quarterly thereafter, the department shall convene a stakeholder advisory committee comprised of advocates for and representatives of, mental health consumers, consumers, family members, counties, and the Legislature. The committee shall make recommendations to the department regarding additional performance and outcome measures that will contribute to improving appropriate care for Medi-Cal eligible beneficiaries.

(2) Commencing January 1, 2019, the department shall provide quarterly updates to the performance outcome system for specialty mental health and shall post the updated report on the department’s Internet Web site.