(a)  A bone marrow transplant for the treatment of cancer shall be reimbursable under this article, when all of the following conditions are met:

(1)  The bone marrow transplant is recommended by the recipient’s attending physician.

(2)  The bone marrow transplant is performed in a hospital that is approved for participation in the California Children’s Services program.

(3)  The bone marrow transplant is a reasonable course of treatment and is approved by the appropriate hospital medical policy committee.

(4)  The bone marrow transplant has been deemed appropriate for the recipient by the program’s medical consultant. The medical consultant shall not disapprove the bone marrow transplant solely on the basis that it is classified as experimental or investigational.

(b)  The program shall provide reimbursement for both donor and recipient surgery.

(c)  Any county that has a population of not more than 600,000, as determined by the most recent decennial census conducted by the United States Bureau of the Census, shall be exempt from complying with the 25-percent matching requirement provided for under this article, for any bone marrow transplant reimbursable under this section.

(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 8. Effective January 1, 1996.)