(1) Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services are provided to qualified, low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, one of the methods by which Medi-Cal services are provided is pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care plans. Existing federal regulations, published on May 6, 2016, revise regulations governing Medicaid managed care plans to, among other things, align, where feasible, those rules with those of other major sources of coverage, including coverage through qualified health plans offered through an American Health Benefit Exchange, such as the California Health Benefit Exchange, and promote quality of care and strengthen efforts to reform delivery systems that serve Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries. These federal regulations, among other things, require specified Medicaid managed care plans to calculate and report a medical loss ratio (MLR) for the rating period that begins in 2017. If a state elects to mandate a minimum MLR for its Medicaid managed care plans, these regulations require that minimum MLR to be equal to or higher than 85% and authorizes the state to impose a remittance requirement consistent with the minimum standards established in these federal regulations for the failure to meet the minimum ratio standard imposed by the state.
California SB 171 (20172018) — Medi-Cal: Medi-Cal managed care plans.
(1) Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services are provided to qualified, low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, one of the methods by which Medi-Cal services are provided is pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care plans. Existing federal regulations, published on May 6, 2016, revise regulations governing Medicaid managed care plans to, among other things, align, where feasible, those rules with those of other major sources of coverage, including coverage through qualified health plans offered through an American Health Benefit Exchange, such as the California Health Benefit Exchange, and promote quality of care and strengthen efforts to reform delivery systems that serve Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries. These federal regulations, among other things, require specified Medicaid managed care plans to calculate and report a medical loss ratio (MLR) for the rating period that begins in 2017. If a state elects to mandate a minimum MLR for its Medicaid managed care plans, these regulations require that minimum MLR to be equal to or higher than 85% and authorizes the state to impose a remittance requirement consistent with the minimum standards established in these federal regulations for the failure to meet the minimum ratio standard imposed by the state.
Version chain
The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
Unfinished Business SB171 Hernandez et al. Concurrence — 38–0 (pass) · upper
SB 171 Hernandez Senate Third Reading By WOOD — 79–0 (pass) · lower
Sponsors
Hernandez — primary (person)
Wood — coauthor (person)
Timeline
The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
2017-01-23 Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. introduction, reading-1
2017-01-24 From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 23.
2017-02-02 Referred to Coms. on HEALTH and APPR. referral-committee
2017-04-06 Set for hearing April 26.
2017-04-19 From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. reading-2, referral-committee, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1
2017-05-01 From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 885.) (April 26). committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage
2017-05-02 Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. amendment-passage, reading-2, referral-committee, reading-1
2017-05-04 Set for hearing May 15.
2017-05-15 May 15 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2017-05-19 Set for hearing May 25.
2017-05-25 From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 1178.) (May 25). committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage
2017-05-26 Read second time. Ordered to third reading. reading-2, reading-1
2017-05-30 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 1271.) Ordered to the Assembly. reading-3, passage, reading-1
2017-05-31 In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. reading-1
2017-06-08 Referred to Com. on HEALTH. referral-committee
2017-07-05 From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH. reading-2, referral-committee, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1
2017-07-11 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (July 11). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee
2017-08-23 August 23 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2017-09-01 From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (September 1). committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage
2017-09-05 Read second time. Ordered to third reading. reading-2, reading-1
2017-09-07 Read third time and amended. amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1
2017-09-07 Ordered to third reading.
2017-09-07 Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2. referral-committee
2017-09-07 Joint Rule 62(a) suspended.
2017-09-12 From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (September 11). committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage
2017-09-13 Read second time. Ordered to third reading. reading-2, reading-1
2017-09-15 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 3495.) Ordered to the Senate. reading-3, passage, reading-1
2017-09-15 In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
2017-09-15 Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 3009.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage
2017-09-22 Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
2017-10-13 Approved by the Governor. executive-signature
2017-10-13 Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 768, Statutes of 2017.
Source
OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/7dcb09d1-7008-4aff-9a53-db6b268c9a79. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).
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