BILL NUMBER: AB 1162	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Holden

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add Section 14134.25 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to Medi-Cal.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1162, as introduced, Holden. Medi-Cal: tobacco cessation.
   Existing law provides for 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 provisions. Existing law provides for a schedule of benefits
under the Medi-Cal program. Existing law requires that preventive
services assigned a grade of A or B by the United States Preventive
Services Task Force be provided to Medi-Cal beneficiaries without any
cost sharing by the beneficiary in order for the state to receive
increased federal contributions for those services, as specified.
   This bill would provide that tobacco cessation services are
covered benefits under the Medi-Cal program and would require that
those services include, at a minimum, unlimited quit attempts, which
would be defined to include at least 4 counseling sessions and a
90-day treatment regimen of any medication approved by the federal
Food and Drug Administration for tobacco cessation.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 14134.25 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:
   14134.25.  (a) Tobacco cessation services are covered benefits
under the Medi-Cal program and shall, at a minimum, include unlimited
quit attempts, with no required break between attempts, for
beneficiaries of any age who use tobacco.
   (b) For purposes of this section, a "quit attempt" shall be
defined to consist of the following:
   (1) At least four tobacco cessation counseling sessions, which may
be conducted in person or by telephone and individually or as part
of a group, at the beneficiary's option.
   (2) A 90-day treatment regimen of any medication approved by the
federal Food and Drug Administration for tobacco cessation, including
prescription and over-the-counter medications. A prescription from a
provider with authority to prescribe and proof of Medi-Cal coverage
shall be sufficient documentation to fill a prescription for
over-the-counter tobacco cessation medications. The coverage
described in this paragraph shall not be subject to any barriers,
requirements, or restrictions, including, but not limited to, prior
authorization.
   (c) The receipt of covered services under this section shall not
be a precondition for the use of one form of treatment in order to
receive any other form of treatment.