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Welf. & Inst. Code, § 14186.3 · Article 5.7. Medi-Cal Field Medicine

Welf. & Inst. Code, § 14186.3

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) A Medi-Cal managed care plan may elect to offer Medi-Cal covered services through an in-network, contracted field medicine provider pursuant to this article.

(b) A Medi-Cal managed care plan that elects to offer Medi-Cal covered services through an in-network, contracted field medicine provider shall allow a Medi-Cal member who is experiencing homelessness to receive those services directly from an in-network, contracted field medicine provider, regardless of the member’s in-network assignment, such as primary care provider (PCP) or independent practice association (IPA) assignment.

(c) (1) A Medi-Cal managed care plan that elects to offer Medi-Cal covered services through an in-network, contracted field medicine provider shall allow an in-network, contracted field medicine provider enrolled in the Medi-Cal program to directly refer a member who is experiencing homelessness for covered services, including specialist, diagnostic services, medications, durable medical equipment, transportation, or other medically necessary covered services, within the appropriate network of the Medi-Cal managed care plan or in-network IPA.

(2) The Medi-Cal managed care plan or IPA shall create referral and authorization mechanisms in order to facilitate the referrals described in paragraph (1).

(d) Medi-Cal managed care plans contracting with field medicine providers pursuant to this section shall have appropriate mechanisms, procedures, or protocols to ensure timely communication between the in-network, contracted field medicine provider, the Medi-Cal member’s plan or IPA, and the member’s assigned primary care provider for purposes of care coordination and to prevent the duplication of services.

(e) (1) A Medi-Cal managed care plan shall provide a method for a Medi-Cal member to inform the Medi-Cal managed care plan online, in person, or via telephone that the member is experiencing homelessness.

(2) The department shall inform a Medi-Cal managed care plan if a Medi-Cal member has indicated that they are experiencing homelessness based on information furnished on the Medi-Cal application.

(f) In the case of a Medi-Cal beneficiary who is experiencing homelessness and who receives services within the fee-for-service delivery system, the department shall reimburse a field medicine provider enrolled in the Medi-Cal program for providing Medi-Cal covered services.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 374, Sec. 3. (AB 543) Effective January 1, 2026.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=WIC&sectionNum=14186.3.
Text hash
sha256 b46452bdf4617ed547e7800ced5e86918cf36f77c68eacbef7d372bd2cc6df0e
Composed by
compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

Cited by 2 provisions

Provisions in this library whose text cites Welf. & Inst. Code, § 14186.3. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.