California requires added electronic notices when health plan provider contracts terminate
Oct 4, 2026 edition · GC-2026-0109 · Published 2026-10-04 · Version 2 · Final
AB 2613 adds electronic provider-termination and renewed-agreement notices for enrollees who opt in and provide contact details. The 2027 workflow retains mailed notices, regulator approval, distinct pretermination and postagreement clocks, and an exclusion for specified Medi-Cal managed care contracts.
What happened
California enacted AB 2613 on September 18, amending Health and Safety Code section 1373.65 for implementation under the ordinary January 1, 2027 effective-date rule. In addition to mailed notice, a plan must send a text or email at least 60 days before a covered provider-group or general acute care hospital contract terminates when the enrollee has opted into electronic delivery and supplied the required contact information. The underlying process retains a block-transfer filing at least 75 days before termination and department review of the proposed notice. Hospital and preferred-provider-organization notice populations have additional specified rules.
If the parties reach an agreement after termination notices were sent, the plan must submit the follow-up notice to DMHC within five business days and send mailed and qualifying electronic notices within 10 business days after approval. An agreement before termination tells affected members they remain assigned to the provider; an agreement after termination offers the option to return. The section preserves the required continuity-of-care statement in communications and specified waiver procedures for exigent circumstances. The additions and amendments do not apply to the listed Medi-Cal managed care contracts with DHCS, so a plan should not use one undifferentiated notice rule for every product.
Scope and timing
- Authority status
- Final
- Applicability
- Directly applicable
- Audience
- Health systems, Provider networks
- Jurisdiction
- California
- Recorded date
- 2027-01-01
- Date type
- effective
Why it matters
Contract status, member assignment, contact preferences and regulator approval all affect which notice is due and when. Electronic delivery supplements the mailed channel rather than replacing it, and postagreement timing starts from different events than the initial termination notice.
Recommended action
Prepare the notice engine and contract workflow before January 1, 2027. Test opt-in and contact data, affected-member selection, five-business-day regulator submission and 10-business-day postapproval delivery. Distinguish an agreement reached before termination from an option to return after termination and map the Medi-Cal exclusion.
Sources
- AB 2613, chaptered bill text and historyOfficial · California Legislature · 2026-09-18 · Source review 2026-09-20
- AB2613 chaptered text, retained official rendered documentOfficial · California Legislature · 2026-09-18 · Source review 2026-10-15
- Official Assembly 2023-24 Constitution, Article IV section 8Official · California Legislature · Source review 2026-10-14
Complete edition and supplemental material
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