CMA-Sponsored Bill Would Streamline Medi-Cal Provider Enrollment, Improve Access for Poor, Elderly, and Disabled
[Posted 04/14/05]

The Senate Health Committee on Wednesday approved a CMA-sponsored bill that would streamline the Medi-Cal provider enrollment process and improve access to care for the state’s 6.5 million Medi-Cal recipients. Under the current system, it takes 180 days to enroll as a Medi-Cal provider. There is a backlog of 11,000 providers (7,000 of them physicians) waiting for their applications to be processed.

The bill (SB 770) would create greater efficiencies in the Department of Health Services (DHS). Specifically, the bill would shorten the time that DHS has to process provider applications; make certain Medicare providers and hospital-based physicians eligible for automatic enrollment consideration; and allow physicians to submit a supplemental application (rather than a new application) when they change their address.

Contact: Lisa Folberg, 915/444-5532 or lfolberg@cmanet.org.