AB 55: Alternative birth centers: licensing and Medi-Cal reimbursement.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various types of clinics, including alternative birth centers, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law defines an alternative birth center as a clinic that is not part of a hospital and that provides comprehensive perinatal services and delivery care to pregnant women who remain less than 24 hours at the facility. Existing law requires a licensed alternative birth center specialty clinic, and a licensed primary care clinic that provides services as an alternative birth center, to meet certain criteria.

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 sets forth certain criteria for Medi-Cal reimbursement to alternative birth centers for facility-related delivery costs.

Under existing law, as a criterion under both the licensing provisions and the Medi-Cal reimbursement provisions described above, the facility is required to be a provider of comprehensive perinatal services as defined in the Medi-Cal provisions.

This bill would remove, under both sets of criteria, the certification condition of being a provider of comprehensive perinatal services as defined in the Medi-Cal provisions. The bill would also make a technical change to an obsolete reference within a related provision.