Beginning this month, Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid health care program, will cover integrated physical and behavioral health screenings and services for the whole family, not just the child who is the identified patient. This expansion is especially important for families in which the child is enrolled in Medi-Cal but the parent or caregiver is uninsured. Funded dyadic services involve simultaneous treatment for the child and parent/caregiver and include screening, assessment, evaluation, and case management services, in addition to integrated behavioral health services, tobacco cessation counseling, and alcohol and/or drug use screening, interventions, and referral to treatment.
Additionally, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is adding doula services to the list of preventive services covered under the Medi-Cal program. To ensure the successful uptake of the new service, DHCS will convene a new stakeholder workgroup in 2023 to review the Department’s implementation of the doula benefit and make recommendations to the legislature. This workgroup will include a diverse group of stakeholders who will examine the program to:
- Ensure that doula services are available to Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are eligible for and want doula services;
- Minimize barriers and delays in payments to a Medi-Cal doula or in reimbursement to Medi-Cal recipients for doula services received; and
Establish outreach efforts so that all Medi-Cal recipients within the eligible and other target populations are aware of the option to use doula services.
