AB 2704: Fee Schedule Intensive Technical Support for Onboarding Program.

Existing law establishes the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, administered by the California Health and Human Services Agency and its departments, as applicable. Under existing law, the purpose of the initiative is to transform the states behavioral health system into an innovative ecosystem in which all children and youth 25 years of age and younger, regardless of payer, are screened, supported, and served for emerging and existing behavioral health needs.

Existing law requires, as a part of the initiative, the State Department of Health Care Services to develop and maintain a school-linked statewide fee schedule for outpatient mental health or substance use disorder treatment provided to a student who is 25 years of age or younger at a schoolsite. Existing law requires providers of medically necessary schoolsite services to be reimbursed by health care service plans, insurers, and Medi-Cal managed care plans, at a minimum, at the fee schedule rate or rates, regardless of network provider status.

This bill would establish the Statewide Fee Schedule Pilot Intensive Technical Support for Onboarding Program. The bill would require the pilot lead, the Monterey County Office of Education, the State Department of Education, upon appropriation and subject to the terms of the appropriation, to select through a competitive process, and allocate funding to, a local educational agency that will serve as the lead entity that will administer the program over a 3-year period, as provided. The bill would require the lead entity, in coordination with the State Department of Education and the State Department of Health Care Services, to, no later than April September 1, 2027, select up to 25 entities to participate in the pilot program and prioritize certain applicants, including, among others, applicants who will increase the number and amount of statewide fee schedule reimbursements. The bill would require that an entity meet specified criteria in order to be eligible to participate in the program, including, among other things, that the entity has past experience in serving children and youth that are of the age that the entity intends to serve. The bill would require a participating entity, as a condition of participation, to commit to increasing, among other things, the number of transition-age youth 16 to 25 years of age receiving behavioral health services. The bill would require the pilot lead, lead entity, starting no later than April on or before September 1, 2027, and ending no earlier than July September 1, 2030, to provide intensive technical assistance and support with regard to specified activities to the participating entities in participating in the school-linked statewide fee schedule, including technical assistance and support with specified activities, including, among others, providing training and coaching for behavioral health service providers related to documentation of services, proper coding and noting procedures, obtaining required consents, applicable privacy laws and disclosure requirements, and referral protocols. entities. The bill would require the pilot lead entity to submit a progress report by January 1, 2028, on or before September 1, 2029, and submit a summative report by January 1, 2031, regarding the pilot program to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature. The bill would require the State Department of Education, upon appropriation and subject to the terms of the appropriation, allocate funds the pilot lead to administer the pilot program. By requiring the Monterey County Office of Education to serve as the pilot lead, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.