(a) A health insurer shall provide an insured 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 insureds, a health insurer operating in the county or counties included in the declaration shall file with the department a notification describing whether the insurer has experienced or expects to experience any disruption to the operation of the insurer, explaining how the insurer is communicating with potentially impacted insureds, and summarizing the actions the insurer has taken or is in the process of taking to ensure that the health care needs of insureds are met. This may require the insurer 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 insured to refill his or her prescriptions at an out-of-network pharmacy.

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

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

(6) Have a toll-free telephone number that an affected insured 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 commissioner’s authority under any provision of this part.

(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 196, Sec. 2. (AB 2941) Effective January 1, 2019.)