AB 586: Medi-Cal: community supports: climate change or environmental remediation devices.

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, subject to implementation of the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, authorizes a Medi-Cal managed care plan to elect to cover community supports approved by the department as cost effective and medically appropriate in a comprehensive risk contract that are in lieu of applicable Medi-Cal state plan services. Under existing law, community supports that the department is authorized to approve include, among other things, housing deposits, environmental accessibility adaptations or home modifications, and asthma remediation.

This bill would add climate change remediation or environmental remediation devices to the above-described list of community supports. For purposes of these provisions, the bill would define climate change remediation or environmental remediation devices as coverage of devices and installation of those devices, as necessary, to address health-related complications, barriers, or other factors linked to extreme weather or other weather, poor air quality, or climate events, including air conditioners, electric heaters, air filters, or generators, backup power sources, among other specified devices for certain purposes.