California requires added electronic notices when health plan provider contracts terminate
Oct 11, 2026 edition · GC-2026-0109 · Published 2026-10-11 · Version 3 · Final
AB 2613 adds opt-in electronic delivery to California health-plan provider-termination notices while retaining mailed notices and regulatory review. The September 18 law also sets notice steps after a renewed agreement, and excludes the identified Medi-Cal managed care contracts from the session's amendments.
What happened
California enacted AB 2613 on September 18 as Chapter 306. Under amended Health and Safety Code section 1373.65, affected enrollees continue to receive provider-group or general acute care hospital termination notices by United States mail at least 60 days before termination. Plans must also deliver the notice by text or email when the enrollee has opted into electronic delivery and supplied the specified contact information. The section retains the block-transfer filing at least 75 days before termination and department review of the proposed notice, including its stated deemed-approval procedure.
If the plan reaches a renewed or replacement agreement after sending termination notices, it must submit the follow-up notice for department approval within five business days and send it within ten business days after approval. An agreement reached before the termination date preserves assignment; an agreement afterward triggers notice and the option to return. Mail remains required, with electronic delivery added for eligible opted-in enrollees. The section also retains defined notice populations and specific exceptions, and its 2025–2026 amendments do not apply to the listed Medi-Cal managed care contracts with DHCS.
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
Plans need coordinated contract, regulator-submission, member-communication, preference, and timing controls. A missed electronic notice or regulator submission can affect continuity-of-care communications during a network change.
Recommended action
Map every provider-termination workflow, confirm electronic communication preferences are available to the notice engine, assign the five-business-day DMHC submission and ten-business-day post-approval mailing controls, and test the process before January 1, 2027.
Sources
- AB 2613, chaptered bill text and historyOfficial · California Legislature · 2026-09-18 · Source review 2026-09-20
- AB2613 current official textOfficial · California Legislature · 2026-09-18 · Source review 2026-10-11
- California Constitution, Article IV section 8(c), official Assembly 2023–24 editionOfficial · California State Assembly · Source review 2026-10-14
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