(a) (1) The office shall measure and promote a sustained systemwide investment in primary care and behavioral health. In furtherance of this goal, the office shall measure the percentage of total health care expenditures allocated to primary care and behavioral health and set spending benchmarks. Spending benchmarks for primary care shall consider current and historic underfunding of primary care services.

(2) The intent of the spending benchmarks is to build and sustain infrastructure and capacity, specifically methods of reimbursement that shift greater health care resources and investments away from specialty care and toward supporting and facilitating innovation and care improvement in primary care and behavioral health. It is intended that increased support for primary care and behavioral health will not increase costs to consumers or increase the total costs of health care. However, shifting resources may take time and not be associated with immediate savings.

(3) Benchmarks and public reporting developed pursuant to this article shall consider differences among payers and fully integrated delivery systems, including factors such as plan or network design or line of business, the diversity of settings and facilities through which primary care can be delivered, including clinical and nonclinical settings, the use of both claims-based and non-claims-based payments, and the risk mix associated with the covered lives or patient population for which they are primarily responsible.

(4) In addition to measuring performance of health care entities with the spending benchmarks, the office shall promote improved outcomes for primary care and behavioral health, including, but not limited to, health care entities making investments in, or adopting models that do, any or all of the following:

(A) Promote the importance of primary care and adopt practices that give consumers a regular source of primary care.

(B) Increase access to advanced primary care models and adoption of measures that demonstrate their success in improving quality and outcomes.

(C) Integrate primary care and behavioral health services, including screenings for behavioral health conditions in primary care settings or delivery of behavioral health support for common behavioral health conditions, such as anxiety, depression, or substance use disorders.

(D) Leverage alternative payment models that provide resources at the practice level to enable improved access and team-based approaches for care coordination, patient engagement, quality, and population health. Team-based approaches support the sharing of accountability for delivery of care between physicians and nurse practitioners, physician assistants, medical assistants, nurses and nurse case managers, social workers, pharmacists, and traditional and nontraditional primary and behavioral health care providers, such as peer support specialists, community health works, and others.

(E) Deliver higher value primary care and behavioral health services with an aim toward reducing disparities.

(F) Leverage telehealth and other digital health solutions to expand access to primary care and behavioral health services, care coordination, and care management.

(G) Implement innovative approaches that integrate primary care and behavioral health with broader social and public health services.

(b) The office shall include an analysis of primary care and behavioral health spending and growth, and relevant quality and equity performance measures, in the annual report required pursuant to Section 127501.6.

(c) In implementing this section, the office shall consult with state departments, external organizations promoting investment in primary care and behavioral health, and other entities and individuals with expertise in primary care, behavioral health, and health equity.

(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 47, Sec. 19. (SB 184) Effective June 30, 2022.)