(a) The department shall expend, upon appropriation, any savings accrued from the establishment and implementation of a bulk purchase vaccine program to increase the participation of physicians and surgeons, public and community-based health clinics, and health care facilities as immunization providers under the Medi-Cal program and under the child health and disability prevention programs established pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 124025) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code and to increase access to, and the quality of, immunization services for publicly insured and uninsured children, and to provide funding to counties to assist in the administration of local immunization programs. These funds shall supplement, not supplant, existing state and local funds.

(b) The department shall implement subdivision (a) at the earliest possible time after a bulk purchase program for child vaccines is implemented and savings from that program are realized.

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(c) The department is encouraged to enlist the help of state and local medical, nursing, and other appropriate associations and societies to enhance private provider outreach programs, that shall include, but not be limited to, components emphasizing the purposes of the public vaccine program and discouraging the practice of sending Medi-Cal and child health and disability prevention program eligible children into county and other public clinics for immunizations.

(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1023, Sec. 479. Effective September 29, 1996.)