(a) The department may contract under this article with the Counties of Sonoma, Placer, and San Luis Obispo, which have been selected by the department through a request for proposal process, for the operation of a fee-for-service managed care program administered by the county through which primary care, specialty care, and case management are provided to residents of the county who are Medi-Cal eligible persons designated by the director.

(b) (1) Upon receipt of the necessary federal medicaid freedom of choice waivers, the department may, consistent with the federal waivers, assign to a fee-for-service managed care program residents of the county who are Medi-Cal eligible persons with Medi-Cal aid codes designated by the director. The department may require that assigned beneficiaries receive their Medi-Cal services and case management through the program.

(2) Medi-Cal eligible county residents who are dually eligible for Medi-Cal and Medicare benefits shall not, however, be assigned to a fee-for-service managed care program.

(3) Medi-Cal beneficiaries eligible for benefits through age, blindness, or disability, as defined in Title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 1381 et. seq.) shall be assigned to a fee-for-service managed care program. However, each county participating in the program authorized by this section shall allow these beneficiaries to select a provider or providers of their choice and shall ensure that existing provider-patient relationships are permitted to continue.

(4) Services covered by the California Children’s Services program shall not be incorporated into a fee-for-service managed care program in a manner that is inconsistent with Article 2.98 (commencing with Section 14094).

(5) A foster child may be enrolled voluntarily in a fee-for-service managed care program if the county director of social services, or his or her delegated representative, makes an individual determination that enrollment in a fee-for-service managed care program is in the best interest of the child. In determining what is in the best interest of the foster child, the county director of social services, or his or her delegated representative, shall consult with the child’s caretaker, and shall include the decision of whether or not to enroll the child in a fee-for-service managed care program in the child’s case plan provided for pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 11400.

(c) Each contract entered into by the department under this section may have an initial term of up to three years. Contracts may be renewed for periods of up to three years upon a determination by the department that a contract is successful.

(d) The department shall periodically evaluate each fee-for-service managed care program through an independent assessment as required under the department’s approved federal waiver request to determine if the program is successfully providing quality health care while not placing the Medi-Cal program or counties at additional financial risk. The assessment shall evaluate quality of care, access, the provision of preventive health care, and costs. The department shall terminate a contract when the department finds that the fee-for-service managed care program is unsuccessful.

(e) In order to ensure maximum cost effectiveness, the Legislature hereby determines that an expedited contract process for contracts entered into under this section between the department and the counties is necessary. Therefore, contracts under this article shall be exempt from Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 10290) of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code.

(f) Fee-for-service managed care program contractors shall ensure broad participation of primary care and other providers, including specialists, safety net and traditional Medi-Cal providers, in the program and shall contract with any primary care provider that agrees to provide services in accord with the same terms and conditions that the fee-for-service managed care program contractor requires of other primary care providers. To the extent possible, the fee-for-service managed care program contractor shall contract with primary care providers in a manner that minimizes the disruption of existing relationships between Medi-Cal eligible residents and their primary care providers.

(g) Medi-Cal eligible county residents in the aid codes designated by the director shall be informed about the fee-for-service managed care program through the health care options process established by the department in each county in which the program is operated consistent with the health care options process authorized in other Medi-Cal managed care counties designated by the director.

(h) Designated Medi-Cal residents shall have the right to select a primary care provider from among the primary care providers contracting with the fee-for-service managed care program contractor and to change primary care providers. Covered Medi-Cal residents shall be informed of this right and the selection and change processes through the health care options process established in the county by the department consistent with the health care options process authorized in other Medi-Cal managed care counties designated by the director. The fee-for-service managed care program contractor shall also include this information in its membership materials.

(i) The board of supervisors of each county participating in the project authorized by this section shall establish or cause to be established an advisory committee comprised of county, physician, hospital, clinic, and beneficiary representatives to advise the county on the implementation and operation of the project provided for under this section.

(j) The department may adopt regulations to implement this section in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. The initial adoption of any emergency regulations implementing this section shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, or general welfare. Initial emergency regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall remain in effect for no more than 120 days.

(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 834, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 1999.)