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AB 1670

Medi-Cal: dental care.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Joaquin Arambula

AB 1670 creates limited extra compensation for Medi-Cal dental providers when patient conditions require significantly more time or personnel, capped at three claims per year.

Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
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Bill Summary · AB 1670

Summary of AB 1670 (2025-2026) — Medi-Cal: Additional Compensation

Purpose and intent
- AB 1670, introduced by Assembly Member Arambula and co-sponsored by Joaquin Arambula, adds a new provision to authorize additional compensation for dental providers under Medi-Cal.
- The bill targets situations where a patient’s physical, behavioral, developmental, or emotional condition requires significantly more time, attention, or personnel to safely deliver dental care.

Key provisions

1) New provision: 14132.24 (added)
- A Medi-Cal dental provider must be paid additional compensation when a patient’s condition requires significant extra time, effort, or personnel to safely provide dental care.
- The additional compensation is restricted to no more than three times in any 12-month period.
- A fourth claim for additional compensation within a 12-month period must be accompanied by another dental procedure (i.e., to be eligible, the provider must bill another dental service alongside the additional-compensation claim).
- The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) must create an aid code to identify whether the beneficiary is also served by a regional center.

2) Related coding and program provisions
- The new section is intended to operate within the existing Medi-Cal framework for optional benefits and reimbursement rates.
- The bill includes a technical/nonsubstantive change to the overall provision governing excluded/covered services, ensuring compatibility with the added compensation mechanism.

3) Section 14131.10 (amended)
- The bill preserves and clarifies that certain optional Medi-Cal benefits are excluded from coverage, with specific conditions and timelines, including:
- Adult dental services exclusions and eventual restoration contingent on federal approvals.
- Exclusions for audiology, speech therapy, chiropractic, optometric/optician services (with subsequent restoration steps), podiatric services, and incontinence products.
- It sets conditions for when adult dental benefits can be covered (limited set of medically necessary services) and notes that the state may implement through non-regulatory means where federal participation allows.
- The amendment clarifies that the department can implement changes by all-county letters or provider bulletins, subject to federal funding and approvals.

Implementation and timeline

  • Effective date: The bill is amended and would become law upon enactment and subsequent implementation, subject to federal financial participation and federal approvals where required.
  • Administrative action: DHCS is tasked with creating an aid code for tracking beneficiaries served by regional centers and implementing the new compensation mechanism within Medi-Cal’s payment structure.
  • Fiscal impact: The bill does not specify an appropriation; it relies on existing Medi-Cal funding with the potential for additional per-claim payments as justified by patient complexity. No separate fiscal committee is listed, and the bill is not reported as an appropriation.

Who is affected

  • Medi-Cal dental providers who treat low-income individuals enrolled in Medi-Cal.
  • Beneficiaries whose dental care involves complex physical, behavioral, developmental, or emotional conditions.
  • Administrative entities: California DHCS, with potential linkage to regional centers for beneficiaries receiving services there.

Procedural notes

  • The bill has been referred to the Health Committee and is in the 2025-2026 Regular Session, with amendments and re-references noted in the action history.
  • It includes a mechanism to attach supplemental dental procedures to eligibility for the additional compensation and to identify affected beneficiaries via a new aid code.

Bottom line
AB 1670 would create a limited, time-bound, extra-compensation mechanism for Medi-Cal dental providers when patient conditions necessitate significantly more time or personnel, capped at three such compensations per year and requiring an accompanying dental procedure for subsequent claims. It also advances administrative alignment with regional centers and clarifies existing optional-benefit exclusions within Medi-Cal.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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