California Medicaid Plans Propose Discontinuing Printed Provider Network Directories In Favor Of Digital Versions

Three Medicaid managed care health plans in California have asked the state Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) which oversees Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program, for permission to stop automatically printing and mailing enrollee handbooks and provider network directories. A federal Medicaid managed care contracting rule allows states to modify contract requirements to allow health plans to post the enrollee handbooks and provider network directories online. The health plans would send printed copies upon request by the beneficiary.

The new federal rule applies to Medicaid managed care organization (MCO) contracts, effective July 1, 2017. Three California Medicaid managed . . .