(a) In areas specified by the director for expansion of the Medi-Cal managed care program under Section 14087.3 and where the department is contracting with a prepaid health plan that is contracting with, governed, owned or operated by a county board of supervisors, a county special commission or county health authority authorized by Sections 14018.7, 14087.31, 14087.35, 14087.36, 14087.38, and 14087.96, a Medi-Cal or California Work Opportunity and Responsibility for Kids (CalWORKs) applicant or beneficiary shall be informed of the health care options available regarding methods of receiving Medi-Cal benefits. The county shall ensure that each beneficiary is informed of these options and informed that a health care options presentation is available.
(b) The managed care options information described in subdivision (a) shall include the following elements:
(1) Each beneficiary or eligible applicant shall be provided, at a minimum, with the name, address, telephone number, and specialty, if any, of each primary care provider, by specialty, or clinic, participating in each managed care health plan option through a personalized provider directory for that beneficiary or applicant. This information shall be presented under the geographic area designations, by the name of the primary care provider and clinic and shall be updated based on information electronically provided monthly by the health care plans to the department, setting forth any changes in the health care plan’s provider network. The geographic areas shall be based on the applicant’s residence address, the minor applicant’s school address, the applicant’s work address, or any other factor deemed appropriate by the department, in consultation with health plan representatives, legislative staff, and consumer stakeholders. In addition, directories of the entire service area of the local initiative and commercial plan provider networks, including, but not limited to, the name, address, and telephone number of each primary care provider and hospital, shall be made available to beneficiaries or applicants who request them from the health care options contractor. Each personalized provider directory shall include information regarding the availability of a directory of the entire service area, provide telephone numbers for the beneficiary to request a directory of the entire service area, and include a postage-paid mail card to send for a directory of the entire service area. The personalized provider directory shall be implemented as a pilot project in Los Angeles County pursuant to this article, and in Sacramento County (Geographic Managed Care Model) pursuant to Article 2.91 (commencing with Section 14089). The content, form, and the geographic areas used in the personalized provider directories shall be determined by the department, in consultation with a workgroup to include health plan representatives, legislative staff, and consumer stakeholders, with an emphasis on the inclusion of stakeholders from Los Angeles and Sacramento Counties. The personalized provider directories may include a section for each health plan. Prior to implementation of the pilot project, the department, in consultation with consumer stakeholders, legislative staff, and health plans, shall determine the parameters, methodology, and evaluation process of the pilot project. The pilot project shall thereafter be in effect for a minimum of two years. Following two years of operation as a pilot project in two counties, the department, in consultation with consumer stakeholders, legislative staff, and health plans, shall determine whether to implement personalized provider directories as a permanent program statewide. If necessary, the pilot project shall continue beyond the initial two-year period until this determination is made. This pilot project shall only be implemented to the extent that it is budget neutral to the department.
(2) Each beneficiary or eligible applicant shall be informed that he or she may choose to continue an established patient-provider relationship in a managed care option, if his or her treating provider is a primary care provider or clinic contracting with any of the prepaid health plan options available and has available capacity and agrees to continue to treat that beneficiary or applicant.
(3) Each beneficiary or eligible applicant shall be informed that if he or she fails to make a choice, he or she shall be assigned to, and enrolled in, a prepaid health plan.
(c) No later than 30 days following the date a Medi-Cal or CalWORKs beneficiary or applicant is determined eligible for Medi-Cal, the beneficiary shall indicate his or her choice, in writing, from among the available prepaid health plans in the region and his or her choice of primary care provider or clinic contracting with the selected prepaid health plan. Notwithstanding the 30-day deadline set forth in this subdivision, if a beneficiary requests a directory for the entire service area within 30 days of receiving an enrollment form, the deadline for choosing a plan shall be extended an additional 30 days from the date of the request.
(d) At the time the beneficiary or eligible applicant selects a prepaid health plan, the department shall, when applicable, encourage the beneficiary or eligible applicant to also indicate, in writing, his or her choice of primary care provider or clinic contracting with the selected prepaid health plan.
(e) In areas specified by the director for expansion of the Medi-Cal managed care program under Section 14087.3, and where the department is contracting with a prepaid health plan that is contracting with, governed, owned or operated by a county board of supervisors, a county special commission or county health authority authorized by Sections 14018.7, 14087.31, 14087.35, 14087.36, 14087.38, and 14087.96, a Medi-Cal or CalWORKs beneficiary who does not make a choice of managed care plans, shall be assigned to and enrolled in an appropriate Medi-Cal prepaid health plan providing service within the area in which the beneficiary resides.
(f) If a beneficiary or eligible applicant does not choose a primary care provider or clinic, or does not select any primary care provider who is available, the prepaid health plan that was selected by or assigned to the beneficiary shall ensure that the beneficiary selects a primary care provider or clinic within 30 days after enrollment or is assigned to a primary care provider within 40 days after enrollment.
(g) Any Medi-Cal or CalWORKs beneficiary dissatisfied with the primary care provider or prepaid health plan shall be allowed to select or be assigned to another primary care provider within the same prepaid health plan. In addition, the beneficiary shall be allowed to select or be assigned to another prepaid health plan contracted for pursuant to this article that is in effect for the geographic area in which he or she resides, in accordance with Section 1903(m)(2)(F)(ii) of the Social Security Act.
(h) The department or its contractor shall notify a prepaid health plan when it has been selected by or assigned to a beneficiary. The prepaid health plan that has been selected by or assigned to a beneficiary shall notify the primary care provider that has been selected or assigned. The prepaid health plan shall also notify the beneficiary of the prepaid health plan and primary care provider or clinic selected or assigned.
(i) (1) The managed health care plan shall have a valid Medi-Cal contract, adequate capacity, and appropriate staffing to provide health care services to the beneficiary.
(2) The department shall establish standards for all of the following:
(A) The maximum distances a beneficiary is required to travel to obtain primary care services from the managed care plan, in which the beneficiary is enrolled.
(B) The conditions under which a primary care service site shall be accessible by public transportation.
(C) The conditions under which a managed care plan shall provide nonmedical transportation to a primary care service site.
(3) In developing the standards required by paragraph (2) the department shall take into account, on a geographic basis, the means of transportation used and distances typically traveled by Medi-Cal beneficiaries to obtain fee-for-service primary care services and the experience of managed care plans in delivering services to Medi-Cal enrollees. The department shall also consider the provider’s ability to render culturally and linguistically appropriate services.
(j) To the extent possible, the arrangements for carrying out subdivision (e) shall provide for the equitable distribution of Medi-Cal beneficiaries among participating prepaid health plans, or managed care plans.
(k) This section shall be implemented in a manner consistent with any federal waiver required to be obtained by the department in order to implement this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 728, Sec. 200. (SB 71) Effective January 1, 2013.)