DMHC licenses first

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The Family Care plan will offer discounter access to a rangeof physician, outpatient (such as physical therapy and mental laboratory, radiology and imaging, dental, vision and hearing-care services. The programj will offer membership to a householrd fora $99 enrollment fee and a monthly chargre of $99.95, according to DMHC, with discounts rangingb from 5 to 40 percent for most services. the Houston-based health plan’s initialk license is only valid for two reflecting caution on the part ofthe Sacramento-baseds agency, which previously has cracked down on various discountg health-care card companies in the state.
Familyu Care is licensed to operatethroughout Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Napa, Santa Cruz, Solano, Orange and San Diegoo counties, as well as the most populatecd areas of Sacramento, Los Riverside, San Bernardino, and 41 other according to the department, and a numbe of local providers are already listed on its www.familycarecalifornia.comk web site. The DMHC said the economi c environment played a role in its decisio to approveFamily Care’s application for a license.
Thankxs to the continuing economic downturn, whicgh has resulted in many individuals and families losinghealtnh coverage, “it is in the best interes t of consumers to regulate and licensde legitimate discount health plans,” Cindy Ehnes, the DMHC’z director, said in a June 9 She added that licensurr will ensure that consumers will get promised discounts and “full y understand that these products are not healt insurance.” In the last six years, the agency’s Help Centee has received more than 925 complaints from consumerse who were victims of fraudulent discount healtb card companies, the DMHC said.
Those consumers were misledc into thinking they were purchasing regular health insurancse or were unable to find doctors who supposedly had contracted with thediscounty company. The DMHC said it has issues several Cease and Desist ordersx in an ongoing investigation into thisgrowiny industry, which in turn led to setting up a licensingy structure to protect consumerd and provide state oversight. As a result, some companiess decided to seek licenses proving they met regulatory The current licensing requirements include verificatiomn ofdiscounts offered, legitimate contracts with doctors and other health care providers, truthfu l advertising, and a process for consumersd to resolve disputes with the according to DMHC.
Plans also must prominentlyg disclose that they are notoffering insurance, but rathed a discount product through which members pay providerds a discounted fee, usually at the time of Family Care’s web site displays such a statement at the bottoj of each web page.