California Considering Two Bills To Regulate Prescribing Of Psychotropic Drugs For Children In Foster Care

The California Senate is considering two bills with provisions to regulate physicians who overprescribe psychotropic drugs for children in foster care or enrolled in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. The bills, Senate Bill (SB) 1174 and SB 1291, take slightly different approaches. SB 1174 would require the Medical Board of California to monitor Medi-Cal prescribers’ psychotropic prescribing patterns for children in foster care. SB 1291 would require Medi-Cal mental health plans to submit annual mental health service plans for children in foster care to the California Department of Health Care Services, which oversees the Medi-Cal program . . .