Administration, Legislation, and Regulations Branch
The Administration, Legislation and Regulations Branch oversees legislation, regulations, and the development and execution of county Mental Health Plan, DMC, and DMC-ODS contracts. The branch consists of two sections – the Legislation and Regulations Section and Policy Division Administration Section.
The Legislation and Regulations Section
The Legislation and Regulations Section is responsible for the development, oversight, and implementation of all legislative and regulatory activities impacting MCBH-PD. The section acts as a liaison on behalf of the Division with DHCS' Legislative and Government Affairs (LGA) Office regarding legislative matters and DHCS' Office of Regulations (OOR) for regulatory affairs.
The Legislation and Regulations Section consists of two units:
- Legislation Unit
- Regulations Unit
The Legislation and Regulations Section works on numerous deliverables throughout the year, including
Legislative Bill Analysis
The legislative bill analysis process includes analyzing legislation introduced and considered by the Legislature. The Legislation and Regulations section reviews pending legislation impacting MCBH-PD programs drafts a clear and concise analysis of the legislation and makes a recommendation for the Administration to inform their decision on the pending legislation.
Legislative Inquiries
MCBH-PD receives inquiries from internal and external stakeholders related to specialty behavioral health delivery system and related programs. The Legislation and Regulations Section coordinates with the subject matter experts to draft and respond to the inquiries and provides technical assistance to the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Office of Legislative and Governmental Affairs (LGA) for the purpose of guiding lawmaking.
Regulations
The regulations process includes independently researching and evaluating federal and state mandates and their impacts to existing regulations, policies and contractual requirements to determine whether and what changes to current regulations, policies, and contractual requirements need to be made. Once determined, regulations text, which includes accompanying documents such and an Initial Statement of Reasons, Statements of Determination and Informative Digest is developed and refined.
Policy Division Administration Section
The Policy Division Administration Section is responsible for the development and execution of all specialty behavioral health services contracts. The section acts as a liaison on behalf of the Division with DHCS' Procurement and Contracting Division (PCD). The section also oversees the CalAIM behavioral health administrative integration.
The Policy Division Administration Section consists of two units:
- Contracts Unit
- Policy Division Administration Unit
The Policy Division Administration Section works on numerous deliverables throughout the year, including
DHCS-County Contracts
The Contracts Unit oversees DHCS' policies and contracts with California's 56 Mental Health Plans (MHPs) for the provision of Medi-Cal SMHS. The MHP Contract is required by state laws and regulations (Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 14680-14726, and Title 9, California Code of Regulations, Sections 1810.100 and 1810.110). The MHP Contract sets forth comprehensive requirements for MHPs to provide or arrange for the provision of all covered, medically necessary SMHS to Medi-Cal members in each county. The Contracts Unit also oversees county DMC and DMC-ODS contracts for the provision of substance use disorder services to Medi-Cal members.
Behavioral Health Transformation
Senate Bill 326 (Eggman, Chapter 790, Statutes of 2023) authorized DHCS to “align relevant terms of its contract with a Medi-Cal behavioral health delivery system with the terms of its contract with a Medi-Cal managed care plan, … for those requirements that apply to both entities." (W&I Code 14197.71(a).) The Policy Division Administration Unit is responsible for reviewing both contracts, identifying instances where the contracts take different approaches for common requirements, and implementing an approach for aligning the two contracts by January 1, 2027.
CalAIM Administrative Integration
Medi-Cal SMHS and SUD treatment services have historically been administered through separate, unique structures at the county level. DHCS is requiring counties to combine the administration of SMH and SUD services into one, integrated specialty behavioral health program by January 1, 2027. Administrative Integration is distinct from the CalAIM Full Integration Plan proposal that would integrate physical, behavioral, and oral health care into comprehensive managed care plans. The primary goals of Behavioral Health Administrative Integration are to improve health care outcomes and the experience of care for Medi-Cal members—particularly those living with co-occurring mental health and SUD issues—by reducing administrative burden for members, counties, providers, and the state. This initiative is a multi-year effort that began in 2022 and included other efforts such as revisions to the Access Criteria for Mental Health Services, the DMC-ODS Policy Improvements and Behavioral Health Payment Reform.
For more information on CalAIM Administrative Integration, please visit Behavioral Health Administrative Integration
Additional Resources
Medicaid and Medi-Cal General:
Contact Information
General Division: MCBHPD@dhcs.ca.gov
CalAIM Behavioral Health Administrative Integration: BHAdminIntegration@dhcs.ca.gov
