DHCS COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) Operational Unwinding Plan
The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has updated the Medi-Cal COVID-19 PHE Operational Unwinding Plan. Since the initiation of the of the federal declaration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), DHCS has implemented over 100 programmatic flexibilities to help minimize the strain to the Medi-Cal program and its beneficiaries, and California’s health care providers and systems. These changes were implemented under a variety of federal and State authorities, and impact almost all aspects of Medi-Cal’s delivery systems. While many of these programmatic flexibilities will terminate on or around the end of the PHE, some will continue due to the positive impact they have left on the Medi-Cal program. In preparation for the end of the federal PHE declaration, DHCS has developed the Unwinding Operational Plan to help inform Medi-Cal beneficiaries, providers, managed care plans, counties, and other stakeholders, of the changes to expect.
