Bill Text: CA AB671 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Medi-Cal: pharmacy benefits.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Failed) 2022-02-01 - Died on inactive file. [AB671 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB671-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 15, 2021 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 671
| Introduced by Assembly Member Wood |
February 12, 2021 |
An act to add Section 14132.969 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to Medi-Cal.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 671, as amended, Wood.
Medi-Cal: pharmacy benefits.
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 schedule of benefits, which includes pharmacy benefits, through various health care delivery systems, including fee-for-service and managed care. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions.
Existing law authorizes the department to contract with a vendor for the purposes of surveying drug price information, collecting data from providers, wholesalers, or drug manufacturers, and calculating a proposed actual acquisition cost. Existing law authorizes the department to establish a list of maximum allowable ingredient cost for generically equivalent drugs, and to establish the actual acquisition
cost based on 3 specified factors, including the volume weighted actual acquisition cost adjusted by the department to verify that the actual acquisition cost represents the average purchase price paid by retail pharmacies in California, or the proposed actual acquisition cost as calculated by a vendor, as specified. Existing law requires the department to establish a fee schedule for the list of pharmacist services. Existing law specifies the pharmacist services that may be provided to a Medi-Cal beneficiary.
This bill would authorize require the department to provide a disease management or similar payment to a pharmacy that the department has contracted with to dispense a specialty drug to Medi-Cal beneficiaries in an amount necessary to ensure beneficiary access, as
determined by the department based on the results of the survey completed during the 2020 calendar year.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 14132.969 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:14132.969.
(a) In addition to the pharmacist services in subdivision (b) of Section 14132.968 and the requirements of Section 14105.45, the department(b) Covered pharmacist services shall be subject to department protocols and utilization controls.
(c) (1) The director shall seek any necessary federal approvals to implement this section. This section shall not be implemented until the necessary federal approvals are obtained and shall be implemented only to the extent that federal financial participation is available.
(2) This section neither restricts nor prohibits any services currently provided by pharmacists as authorized by law, including, but not limited to, this chapter, or the Medicaid state plan.
(d) 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, and any applicable federal waivers and state plan amendments, by means of all-county letters, plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions, without taking regulatory action. By July 1, 2023, the department shall adopt regulations in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. Commencing July 1, 2022, the department shall provide a status report to the Legislature on a semiannual basis, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, until regulations have been adopted.
