CA SB530

Extends Medi-Cal managed care time and distance standards (requiring providers to be within specified miles/minutes of beneficiaries) from January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2029

Requires managed care plans to ensure subcontractor networks comply with appointment time standards and demonstrate each subcontractor's compliance to the Department of Health Care Services starting in 2026

Mandates that using telehealth to meet time/distance standards does not eliminate the plan's responsibility to provide beneficiaries access to in-person services, including transportation, if preferred

Beginning January 1, 2027, requires the department to consider the sufficiency of payment rates offered by managed care plans when evaluating requests for alternative access standards

Requires appointment time compliance evaluations to use direct testing methods, including "secret shopper" surveys, starting in 2029, and mandates the department publish a workplan and convene a stakeholder workgroup on network adequacy standards by January 1, 2027