Code Section

104322.  

(a) (1) The State Department of Health Care Services shall develop and implement a program to provide quality prostate cancer treatment for low-income and uninsured men.

(2) The State Department of Health Care Services shall award one or more contracts to provide prostate cancer treatment through private or public nonprofit organizations, including, but not limited to, community-based organizations, local health care providers, the University of California medical centers, and the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, an affiliate of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles. Contracts awarded, subsequent to the effective date of the amendments to this section made during the 2005 portion of the 2005–06 Regular Session, pursuant to this paragraph shall be consistent with both of the following:

(A) Eighty-seven percent of the total contract funding shall be used for direct patient care.

(B) No less than 70 percent of the total contract funding shall be expended on direct patient care treatment costs, which shall be defined as funding to fee-for-service providers for Medi-Cal eligible services.

(3) The contracts described in paragraph (2) shall not be subject to Part 2 (commencing with Section 10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code. Commencing July 1, 2006, those contracts shall be entered into on a competitive bid basis.

(4) It is the intent of the Legislature to support the prostate cancer treatment program provided for pursuant to this section, and that the program be cost-effective and maximize the number of men served for the amount of funds appropriated. It is further the intent of the Legislature to ensure that the program has an adequate health care provider network to facilitate reasonable access to treatment.

(b) (1) Treatment provided under this chapter shall be provided to uninsured and underinsured men with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

(2) The enrolling entity shall make available to all applicants and beneficiaries, prior to or concurrent with enrollment, information on the manner in which to apply for insurance affordability programs, in a manner determined by the State Department of Health Care Services. The information provided shall include the manner in which applications can be submitted for insurance affordability programs, information about the open enrollment periods for the California Health Benefit Exchange, and the continuous enrollment aspect of the Medi-Cal program.

(3)  Covered services shall be limited to prostate cancer treatment and prostate cancer-related services. Eligible men shall be enrolled in a 12-month treatment regimen.

(c) The State Department of Health Care Services shall contract for prostate cancer treatment services only at the level of funding budgeted from state and other sources during a fiscal year in which the Legislature has appropriated funds to the department for this purpose.

(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2003 and any other law, commencing with the 2003–04 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, any amount appropriated to the State Department of Health Care Services for the prostate cancer treatment program implemented pursuant to this chapter shall be made available, for purposes of that program, for encumbrance for one fiscal year beyond the year of appropriation and for expenditure for two fiscal years beyond the year of encumbrance.