AB1773 - Pharmacy benefit managers.

Amended IN Assembly March 16, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 1773 Introduced by Assembly Member Blanca Rubio February 09, 2026 An act to amend Section 14184.800 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to Medi-Cal. add Section 1385.007 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to pharmacy benefit managers. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1773, as amended, Blanca Rubio. Medi-Cal: prerelease services for inmates. Pharmacy benefit managers. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a pharmacy benefit manager contracting with a health care service plan or health insurer to secure a license from the Department of Managed Health Care on or after January 1, 2027, or the date on which the department has established the licensure process, whichever is later. This bill would require the department to maintain a public internet website displaying specified information for each licensed pharmacy benefit manager, including, among other things, the legal name, license number, and license expiration date. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law establishes the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Act, and requires that implementation of CalAIM, set forth as provided by law and in the CalAIM Terms and Conditions, supports specified goals. Existing law makes a qualifying inmate of a public institution eligible, commencing no sooner than January 1, 2023, to receive targeted Medi-Cal services, limited to those services approved in the CalAIM Terms and Conditions for 90 days, as specified. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to that provision. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 1385.007 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 1385.007. (a) The department shall maintain a public internet website displaying the following information for each licensed pharmacy benefit manager: (1) Legal name. (2) License number and status. (3) Initial licensure date. (4) License expiration date. (b) This section shall be implemented utilizing existing resources of the department. If the department determines that additional resources are required for implementation, this section shall become operative only upon appropriation of sufficient funds for this purpose in the annual Budget Act or another measure providing the funding. SECTION 1. Section 14184.800 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read: 14184.800. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, commencing no sooner than January 1, 2023, a qualifying inmate of a public institution shall be eligible to receive targeted Medi-Cal services for 90 days, or the number of days approved in the CalAIM Terms and Conditions with respect to an eligible population of qualifying inmates if different than 90 days, before the date they are released from a public institution, if otherwise eligible for those services under this chapter and subject to subdivision (f) of Section 14184.102. (b) Targeted Medi-Cal services made available to qualifying inmates pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be limited to those services approved in the CalAIM Terms and Conditions. (c) To the extent federal approval is obtained to implement this section, the department shall arrange for an independent, third-party evaluation of the hypotheses and outcomes associated with providing targeted Medi-Cal services to qualifying inmates as described in the CalAIM Terms and Conditions. The department shall post the evaluation report on its internet website following submission to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.