DMHC licenses first

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The Family Care plan will offer discountexd access to a rangeof physician, pharmacy, outpatient (sucg as physical therapy and mental health), laboratory, radiologyt and imaging, dental, chiropractic, visio and hearing-care services. The programn will offer membership to a householdr fora $99 enrollment fee and a monthlyh charge of $99.95, according to DMHC, with discountsa ranging from 5 to 40 percent for most services. the Houston-based health plan’s initiapl license is only valid fortwo years, reflectin g caution on the part of the Sacramento-based agency, whicyh previously has cracked down on various discount health-care card companie in the state.
Family Care is licensed to operateethroughout Alameda, Marin, San Francisco, San Santa Clara, Napa, Santa Cruz, Solano, Orange and San Diegol counties, as well as the most populated areas of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and 41 other according to the and a number of local providers are already listedd on its www.familycarecalifornia.com web The DMHC said the economic environment played a role in its decisiohn to approve Family Care’s application for a Thanks to the continuing economif downturn, which has resulted in many individualss and families losing health “it is in the best interest of consumers to regulatew and license legitimate discount health plans,” Cindy the DMHC’s director, said in a June 9 She added that licensure will ensure that consumers will get promisef discounts and “fully understancd that these products are not health In the last six years, the agency’s Help Cente r has received more than 925 complai ntx from consumers who were victims of fraudulenft discount health card companies, the DMHC Those consumers were misledf into thinking they were purchasing regular health insurancew or were unable to find doctoras who supposedly had contracted with the discount The DMHC said it has issued several Cease and Desisft orders in an ongoing investigation into this growinb industry, which in turn led to settingh up a licensing structure to protect consumers and providse state oversight.
As a result, some companies decideds to seek licenses provingv they metregulatory standards. The current licensing requirementa include verification ofdiscounts offered, legitimate contracts with doctor and other health care providers, truthfulp advertising, and a process for consumers to resolvre disputes with the plan, according to Plans also must prominently disclose that they are not offeringf insurance, but rather a discounft product through which members pay providers a discounted fee, usually at the time of Family Care’s web site displays such a statemen t at the bottom of each web page.