AB 2486: Opioid Prevention and Rehabilitation Act.

Session Year: 2017-2018
House: Assembly

Version:

Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health, which has authority over various programs promoting public health. Existing law requires the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to award naloxone grant funding to local health departments, local government agencies, or other specified entities, in order to reduce the rate of fatal overdose from opioid drugs, including heroin and prescription opioids.

Under existing law, the department licenses and regulates manufacturers of drugs or devices in this state, and the California State Board of Pharmacy licenses and regulates wholesalers of dangerous drugs or devices, as specified.

This bill would, commencing with the 202021 fiscal year, require a manufacturer or wholesaler that sells or distributes opioid drugs in this state to submit to the department a report, including specified information, that details all opioid drugs sold or distributed in this state during the preceding fiscal year. The bill would, commencing with the 202021 fiscal year, require the department, in consultation with the board, to calculate the ratable share of a manufacturer or wholesaler, which is the individual portion of the collective sum of $100,000,000 to be paid by the manufacturers and wholesalers, based on the information reported. The bill would subject the manufacturer and wholesaler to specified civil penalties for failing to comply with the reporting or payment requirements.

The bill would require the deposit of the payments, less refunds and the departments administrative costs, into the continuously appropriated Opioid Prevention and Rehabilitation Program Fund, which the bill would create, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the department to distribute moneys in the fund to counties for purposes of opioid prevention and rehabilitation programs. The bill would base the distribution of moneys on county needs, using only specified information relating to opioid overdose in the counties.

This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of ²/₃ of the membership of each house of the Legislature.

This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

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. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions.Existing law provides for a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program, which includes prescribed drugs subject to the Medi-Cal list of contract drugs. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into contracts with manufacturers of single-source and multiple-source drugs for drugs from each major therapeutic category. Existing law requires those contracts to provide for a state rebate to be remitted to the department quarterly. Existing law requires that the utilization data used to determine those rebates include data from all programs, including, but not limited to, fee-for-service Medi-Cal, and utilization data from health plans contracting with the department to provide services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries, as specified.This bill would, on and after January 1, 2020, require a contract entered into by the department and a drug manufacturer under the Medi-Cal program, that includes a prescription drug that contains an active opioid ingredient, to provide for a state rebate, in addition to other existing rebates, which would be proportional to the utilization of prescription drugs containing active opioid ingredients, at a rate of $0.01 per milligram of active opioid ingredient. The bill would require that the determination of drug utilization be based on the utilization data that the department prepares for purposes of the above-described state rebate. The bill would authorize the department to contract with a drug manufacturer without providing for the new state rebate, but would require the drug manufacturers prescription drug that contains an active opioid ingredient to be made available only through prior authorization, to the extent that the prior authorization requirements are consistent with federal Medicaid Program provisions.This bill would require the deposit of the collected state rebate amounts into the Medi-Cal Opioid Prevention and Rehabilitation Program Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, and subject to appropriation, to annually distribute moneys in the fund to counties for purposes of opioid prevention and rehabilitation programs. The bill would base the distribution of moneys on county needs, using only specified information relating to opioid overdose in the counties.This bill would implement these provisions only to the extent that any necessary federal approvals are obtained.

Discussed in Hearing