(a) On and after July 1, 2011, in accordance with subdivision (b), a health care service plan that provides coverage for professional mental health services, including a specialized health care service plan that provides coverage for professional mental health services, shall issue an identification card to an enrollee in order to assist the enrollee with accessing health benefits coverage information, including, but not limited to, in-network provider access information, and claims processing purposes. The identification card, at a minimum, shall include all of the following information:

(1) The name of the health care service plan issuing the identification card.

(2) The enrollee’s identification number.

(3) A telephone number that enrollees or providers may call for assistance with health benefits coverage information, in-network provider access information, and claims processing information, and if assessment services are provided by the health care service plan, access to assessment services for the purpose of referral to an appropriate level of care or an appropriate health care provider.

(4) The health care service plan’s Internet Web site address.

(b) The identification card required by this section shall be issued by a health care service plan or a specialized health care service plan to an enrollee upon enrollment or upon a change in the enrollee’s coverage that impacts the data content or format of the card.

(c) This section does not require a health care service plan to issue a separate identification card for professional mental health services coverage if the plan issues a card for health care coverage in general and the card provides the information required by this section.

(d) If a health care service plan or a specialized health care service plan, as described in subdivision (a), delegates responsibility for issuing the identification card to a contractor or an agent, the contractor or agent shall be required to comply with this section.

(e) This section does not prohibit a health care service plan or a specialized health care service plan from meeting the standards of the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) or other national uniform standards with respect to identification cards, and a health care service plan shall be deemed compliant with this section if the plan conforms with these standards, as long as the minimum requirements described in subdivision (a) have been met.

(f) For the purposes of this section, “identification card” includes other technology that performs substantially the same function as an identification card.

(g) (1) This section shall not apply to Medicare supplement insurance, employee assistance programs, CHAMPUS supplement insurance, or TRI-CARE supplement insurance, or to hospital indemnity, accident-only, and specified disease insurance. This section shall also not apply to specialized health care service plans, except behavioral health-only plans.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), this section shall not apply to a behavioral health-only plan that provides coverage for professional mental health services pursuant to a contract with a health care service plan or insurer if that plan or insurer issues an identification card to its subscribers or insureds pursuant to this section or § 10123.198 of the Insurance Code.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 687, Sec. 1. (SB 910) Effective January 1, 2019.)