(a) A county that enters into a Drug Medi-Cal Treatment Program contract with the department in accordance with Section 14124.20, or the department if entering into a Drug Medi-Cal Treatment Program contract directly with providers or as otherwise described in Section 14124.21, shall reimburse Drug Medi-Cal certified providers for medically necessary Drug Medi-Cal reimbursable services, as defined in Section 14124.24, provided by a licensed practitioner of the healing arts, or a registered or certified alcohol or other drug counselor or other individual authorized by the department to provide Drug Medi-Cal reimbursable services when those services meet the standard of care, meet the requirements of the service code being billed, and are delivered through video synchronous interaction or audio-only synchronous interaction.

(b) A Drug Medi-Cal certified provider shall not establish a new patient relationship with a Medi-Cal beneficiary via asynchronous store and forward, audio-only synchronous interaction, remote patient monitoring, or other virtual communication modalities, except as set forth in paragraph (4) of subdivision (g) of Section 14132.100. Notwithstanding this prohibition, the department may provide for specific exceptions to this prohibition, which shall be developed in consultation with affected stakeholders and published in departmental guidance.

(c) Drug Medi-Cal reimbursable services provided through a video synchronous interaction or an audio-only synchronous interaction pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be subject to billing, reimbursement, and utilization management policies imposed by the department.

(d) Drug Medi-Cal reimbursable services provided through a video synchronous interaction or an audio-only synchronous interaction shall be provided in compliance with the privacy and security requirements contained in the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 found in Parts 160 and 164 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 2 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the Medicaid State Plan, and any other applicable state and federal statutes and regulations.

(e) This section shall be implemented only to the extent that any necessary federal approvals are obtained and federal financial participation is available.

(f) The department shall adopt regulations by July 1, 2024, 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).

(g) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, the department may, if it deems it appropriate, implement, interpret, or make specific this section by means of provider bulletins, written guidelines, or similar instructions from the department, until regulations are adopted.

(Repealed and added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 47, Sec. 101. (SB 184) Effective June 30, 2022.)