(a) A health care service plan shall provide an enrollee who has been displaced by a state of emergency, as declared by the Governor pursuant to Section 8625 of the Government Code, access to medically necessary health care services.

(b) Within 48 hours of a declaration by the Governor of a state of emergency that displaces or has the immediate potential to displace enrollees, a health care service plan operating in the county or counties included in the declaration shall file with the department a notification describing whether the plan has experienced or expects to experience any disruption to the operation of the plan, explaining how the plan is communicating with potentially impacted enrollees, and summarizing the actions the plan has taken or is in the process of taking to ensure that the health care needs of enrollees are met. This may require the plan to take actions, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Relax time limits for prior authorization, precertification, or referrals.

(2) Extend filing deadlines for claims.

(3) Suspend prescription refill limitations and allow an impacted enrollee to refill his or her prescriptions at an out-of-network pharmacy.

(4) Authorize an enrollee to replace medical equipment or supplies.

(5) Allow an enrollee to access an appropriate out-of-network provider if an in-network provider is unavailable due to the state of emergency or if the enrollee is out of the area due to displacement.

(6) Have a toll-free telephone number that an affected enrollee may call for answers to questions, including questions about the loss of health insurance identification cards, access to prescription refills, or how to access health care.

(c) This section shall not be construed to limit the Governor’s authority under the California Emergency Services Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8550) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code), or the director’s authority under any provision of this chapter.

(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 196, Sec. 1. (AB 2941) Effective January 1, 2019.)