Bill Text: CA AB1943 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1943

CA State Legislature page for AB1943

Bill Title: Medi-Cal: telehealth.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-22 - Referred to Com. on HEALTH. [AB1943 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB1943-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 04, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1943

Introduced by Assembly Member Weber

January 29, 2024

~~An act to add Section 130209.5 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to health.~~ An act to add Section 14132.726 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to telehealth.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1943, as amended, Weber. ~~Health information.~~ Medi-Cal: telehealth.

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions.
Under existing law, in-person, face-to-face contact is not required under the Medi-Cal program when covered health care services are provided by video synchronous interaction, audio-only synchronous interaction, remote patient monitoring, or other permissible virtual communication modalities, when those services and settings meet certain criteria.
This bill would require the department to produce a public report on telehealth in the Medi-Cal program that includes analyses of, among other things, (1) telehealth access and utilization, (2) the effect of telehealth on timeliness of, access to, and quality of care, and (3) the effect of telehealth on clinical outcomes, as specified. The bill would authorize the department, in collaboration with the California Health and Human Services Agency, to issue policy recommendations based on the report’s findings.
Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency, which includes departments charged with the administration of health, social, and other human services. Existing law establishes the Center for Data Insights and Innovation within the California Health and Human Services Agency to ensure the enforcement of state law mandating the confidentiality of medical information. Existing law requires the center to develop tools and education related to improvement of consumer access to care, quality of care, and addressing the disparities in quality of care related to socioeconomic status. Existing law also establishes the State Department of Health Care Services and requires the department, among other things, to administer the Medi-Cal program.
This bill would require the department, in collaboration with the agency, to collect appropriate data and identify indicators for tracking telehealth outcomes associated with impacting individual patient outcomes and overall population health. The bill would require the department to use the data collected to measure health outcomes of populations, as specified.
~~The bill would make a related intent statement.~~

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

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

SECTION 1.

It is the intent of the Legislature to advance the use of telehealth and increase access to health care by establishing state policy that optimizes the use of telehealth to augment and enhance health and medical care for all California residents, especially those residents who are medically underserved, in order to improve individual patient outcomes and overall population health.

SEC. 2.Section 130209.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
130209.5.
(a)The State Department of Health Care Services, in collaboration with the California Health and Human Services Agency, shall collect appropriate data and identify indicators for tracking telehealth outcomes associated with impacting individual patient outcomes and overall population health. The department shall collect all of the following data:
~~(1)Medi-Cal program data that tracks individual and overall population health outcomes.~~
~~(2)Medi-Cal program data on who has access to telehealth, the effectivenesss of telehealth, and access to special care.~~
~~(3)Medi-Cal program morbidity and mortality data, including environmental factors.~~
~~(b)The department shall use the data collected pursuant to subdivision (a) to measure the health outcomes of populations by using all of the following determinants:~~
~~(1)Medical care.~~
~~(2)Public health interventions.~~
~~(3)Social determinants, including income, employment, social support, and culture.~~
~~(4)Physical environment, including urban design, air quality, and access to clean water.~~
~~(5)Genetics.~~
~~(6)Individual behavior.~~

SEC. 2.

Section 14132.726 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

14132.726.
(a) The department shall use Medi-Cal data and other data sources available to the department to produce a public report on telehealth in the Medi-Cal program that includes analyses of all of the following:
(1) Telehealth access and utilization.
(2) The effect of telehealth on timeliness of, access to, and quality of care, including specialty care, for Medi-Cal enrollees, including among target populations of Medi-Cal enrollees identified within the department’s Comprehensive Quality Strategy (CQS).
(3) The effect of telehealth on clinical outcomes at an individual and population level.
(4) The effect of telehealth on preventive care Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality measures reported by Medi-Cal managed care plans.
(b) (1) Wherever possible based on the availability of data, the analyses described in subdivision (a) shall be stratified by geographic, demographic, and social determinants of health categories to identify disparities.
(2) Social determinants of health categories may be approximated using existing data sources, including the Healthy Places Index or similar indices.
(c) The department, in collaboration with the California Health and Human Services Agency, may issue policy recommendations based on the report’s findings.