Medi-Cal fee-for-service hospices must use the new attestation portal within five days of election
Sep 27, 2026 edition · GC-2026-0032 · Published 2026-09-27 · Version 2 · Effective
Medi-Cal’s September 1 hospice notice separates the five-calendar-day portal attestation from the signed election form, which stays in the member’s medical record.
What happened
DHCS’s September 1 notice requires licensed and certified hospices to submit a Medi-Cal Hospice Attestation through the Provider Portal after counseling a fee-for-service member, obtaining informed consent and securing a signed DHCS 8052 election notice. The electronic attestation serves as official notice to DHCS and must be submitted within five calendar days of the member electing hospice. This is the fee-for-service process described in that dated notice, not a requirement inferred from a later reminder.
The signed DHCS 8052 is not uploaded to DHCS through this workflow. The hospice retains it in the member’s medical record and must make it available on request or for a state or federal audit. DHCS points providers to a step-by-step portal guide and hospice support. A submission confirmation therefore serves a different purpose from the signed election evidence; neither substitutes for the other. Reconciling admissions to timely portal confirmations and retained forms is a practical way to detect missing steps.
Scope and timing
- Authority status
- Effective
- Applicability
- Directly applicable
- Audience
- Health systems, Provider networks
- Jurisdiction
- California
- Affected functions
- Clinical Operations, Revenue Cycle, Provider Enrollment, IT, Compliance
- Responsible owner
- Clinical Operations
- Recorded date
- 2026-09-01
- Date type
- effective
Why it matters
Electronic notification and documented informed consent are separate obligations. The short calendar-day window makes handoffs and access problems operationally important.
Recommended action
Confirm access for relevant fee-for-service hospice records, reconcile elections to submission confirmations within five calendar days and retain signed DHCS 8052 forms. Escalate access or missed-submission problems using DHCS’s support channels; internal review dates do not extend the rule.
Implementation playbook
- Confirm access for each fee-for-service hospice NPI and identify any admissions awaiting attestation. Any intermediate preparation date is an internal target; it does not replace the source’s operative deadline. Provider Enrollment · Due 2026-09-08
- Reconcile September elections to portal confirmations, retain informed consent, and escalate missed five-calendar-day submissions to DHCS. Any intermediate preparation date is an internal target; it does not replace the source’s operative deadline. Clinical Operations · Due 2026-09-08
- Check submission timeliness and associated claim outcomes during the first month; internal review date is not a DHCS extension. Compliance · Due 2026-09-30
Sources
- Mandatory use of the Medi-Cal hospice attestation portalOfficial · DHCS · 2026-09-01 · Source review 2026-09-06
- Hospice portal transition frequently asked questionsOfficial · DHCS · Source review 2026-09-06
Complete edition and supplemental material
This finding in the complete approved report →Regulatory horizons, CIA trends and implementation trackers remain in the full report.
Read the entire Medicare & Medicaid report →