Official Summary Text
AB 1670, as amended, Arambula.
Medi-Cal:
additional compensation.
dental care.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, including dental care, as specified. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions.
Existing law establishes reimbursement rates for services provided by Medi-Cal providers to beneficiaries.
This bill would require that a provider be paid additional compensation when a patient’s physical, behavioral, developmental, or emotional condition requires significant extra time, attention, or personnel to safely deliver dental care. The bill would limit this additional payment to 3 times in a 12-month period.
This bill would make behavior management and desensitization services without an accompanying dental procedure covered benefits under the Medi-Cal program, subject to utilization controls, when a patient’s physical, behavioral, developmental, or emotional condition requires significant extra time, attention, or personnel, or requires such services preceding a dental visit, respectively, in order to safely deliver dental care. The bill would condition implementation of these provisions on the availability of federal financial participation and any necessary federal approvals having been obtained. The bill would, notwithstanding any other law, authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific these provisions by means of all-county letters, plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions without taking any further regulatory action.