BILL NUMBER: AB 73	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Waldron

                        DECEMBER 18, 2014

   An act to add Section 14133.06 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to Medi-Cal.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 73, as introduced, Waldron. Medi-Cal: benefits: prescription
drugs.
   Existing law provides for 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. Existing law specifies the benefits
provided pursuant to the program, including the purchase of
prescribed drugs that are covered subject to utilization controls.
Utilization controls include a requirement that the treatment
provider obtain prior authorization for providing medical treatment,
as specified.
   This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to include specified therapeutic drug classes, as
prescribed by a licensed prescriber in his or her reasonable,
professional judgment, as a covered Medi-Cal benefit, to the extent
permitted by federal law.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 14133.06 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:
   14133.06.  It is the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to include specified therapeutic drug classes, as
prescribed by a licensed prescriber in his or her reasonable,
professional judgment, as a covered benefit under this chapter, to
the extent permitted by federal law.