(a) The department, in conjunction with the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, may develop and conduct a community outreach and education campaign to help families learn about, and apply for, Medi-Cal and the Healthy Families Program of the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, subject to the requirements of federal law. In conducting this campaign, the department may seek input from, and contract with, various entities and programs that serve children, including, but not limited to, the State Department of Education, counties, Women, Infants, and Children program agencies, Head Start and Healthy Start programs, and community-based organizations that deal with potentially eligible families and children to assist in the outreach, education, and application completion process. The department shall implement the campaign if funding is provided for this purpose by an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or other statute.

(b) In implementing this section, the department may amend any existing or future media outreach campaign contract that it has entered into pursuant to Section 14148.5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any such contract entered into, or amended, as required to implement this section, shall be exempt from the approval of the Director of General Services and from the provisions of the Public Contract Code.

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(c) (1) The department, in conjunction with the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, may award contracts to community-based organizations to help families learn about, and enroll in, the Medi-Cal program and Healthy Families Program, and other health care programs for low-income children. The department shall implement this subdivision if funding is provided for this purpose by an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or other statute.

(2) Contracts for these outreach and enrollment projects shall be awarded based on, but not limited to, all of the following criteria:

(A) Capacity to reach populations or geographic areas with disproportionately low enrollment rates. If it is not possible to estimate the number of uninsured children in a geographic area who are eligible for the Medi-Cal program or the Healthy Families Program, proxy measures for rates of eligible children may be used. These measures may include, but are not limited to, the number of children in families with gross annual household incomes at or below the federal poverty levels pertinent to the programs.

(B) Organizational capacity and experience, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

(i) Organizational experience in serving low-income families.

(ii) Ability to work effectively with populations that have disproportionately low enrollment rates.

(iii) Organizational experiences in helping families learn about, and enroll in, the Medi-Cal program and Healthy Families Program. Organizations that do not have experience helping families learn about, and enroll in, the Medi-Cal program and Healthy Families Program shall be eligible only to the extent that they support and collaborate with the outreach and enrollment activities of entities with that experience.

(C) Effectiveness of the outreach and education plan, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(i) Culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach and education strategies.

(ii) Strategies to identify and address barriers to enrollment, such as transportation limitations and community perceptions regarding the Medi-Cal program and Healthy Families Program.

(iii) Coordination with other outreach efforts in the community, including the statewide Healthy Families Program and Medi-Cal program outreach campaign, the state and federally funded county Medi-Cal outreach program, and any other Medi-Cal program and Healthy Families Program outreach projects in the target community.

(iv) Collaboration with other local organizations that serve families of eligible children.

(v) Strategies to ensure that children and families retain coverage and are informed of options for health coverage and services when they lose eligibility for a particular program.

(vi) Plans to inform families about all available health care programs and services.

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 728, Sec. 199. (SB 71) Effective January 1, 2013.)