Health care: assistive technology: reuse and redistribution.

Existing law establishes the Department of Rehabilitation in the California Health and Human Services Agency to provide vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities. This bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish a comprehensive 3-year device reutilization pilot program in the Counties of Contra Costa, Napa, Solano, and Yolo to facilitate the reuse and redistribution of assistive technology, including durable medical equipment. The bill would require the department to contract with one or more nonprofit agencies to oversee the program and would require a contracting nonprofit agency to use a computerized system to track the inventory of equipment and supplies available for reuse and redistribution and organize pickup and delivery of equipment and supplies. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2027, to submit a report to the appropriate Senate and Assembly policy committees of the Legislature that includes an evaluation of the success of the pilot program and challenges in implementation, among other things. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2030.