Bill > AB1605

This bill makes several changes related to health services and programs, including extending the duration for which emergency regulations can be adopted by the California Health Benefit Exchange (the Exchange) to five years, authorizing funding for local health departments and community organizations to provide Naloxone (an opioid overdose reversal drug) to first responders and at-risk individuals, and continuously appropriating funds in the Long-Term Care Quality Assurance Fund. It also expands drug treatment programs to include HIV-negative individuals prescribed pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention and removes the cost-savings requirement for subsidizing health insurance for those in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). The bill mandates the State Department of Public Health to purchase and distribute materials for hepatitis B and C testing and vaccination, allocate funds for Alzheimer's disease diagnostic and treatment centers, and revises the duties of the Office of Health Information Integrity regarding HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance by removing provisions for an advisory committee and Department of Finance reporting. Furthermore, it indefinitely extends the State Department of Health Care Services' authority to use individually identifiable information to seek recovery of Medi-Cal costs, expands mental health services for children and youth, modifies Medi-Cal estate recovery rules to limit claims to federally required services and protect surviving registered domestic partners, increases administrative cost allowances for the Medi-Cal Electronic Health Records Incentive Program, and allows for contracted services to help individuals transition from Medi-Cal to other health insurance due to changes in behavioral health treatment (BHT) coverage. The bill also updates Medi-Cal pharmacy provider reimbursement for dispensing fees, restores acupuncture as a covered Medi-Cal benefit, delays a cost-of-doing-business adjustment for county Medi-Cal administrative operations, changes reporting requirements for emergency medical air transportation services, and revises capitation rate setting for the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) organizations, allowing for more flexible rate methodologies and removing the nonprofit requirement for contracting organizations. Finally, it makes various technical changes and repeals or makes inoperative obsolete provisions of law, taking effect immediately as a budget-related appropriation bill.