Featured Links
- California Business Portal
- Proposition 1B - Transportation
- Proposition 1C - Housing
- Goods Movement Action Plan
- Jobs and the Economy
- Performance Based Infrastructure
- Strategic Growth Plan
- Bond Accountability
- Energy and the Environment
- Governor's Broadband Initiative
- California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley
- California International Trade and Investment Act
- Small Business Disaster Assistance
Highlights
- CTC Approves Landmark $3 Billion Goods Movement Program
- Work Zone Awareness Week in California
- Governor Schwarzenegger Continues Push for Congressional Leaders to Permanently Raise Federal Home Loan Limits
- Secretary Bonner Congratulates Broadband Task Force on Receiving CENIC 2008 Innovations in Networking Award
- Governor Announces $10.5 Million to Train Workers Displaced by Housing Slump
- Governor Schwarzenegger Announces $8 Million Grant to Expand Counseling Services to Homeowners at Risk of Foreclosure
- Governor Announces Actions to Jump Start California's Economy through Job Creation, Offset Housing Slump
- Governor Announces Distribution of Proposition 1C Funds for Affordable Housing
Departments
Cindy Ehnes
Director
Department of Managed Health Care
For more information about the DMHC and its programs, go to www.hmohelp.ca.gov.
Responsibilities and accomplishments include:
Responding to consumer complaints about HMOs:
- Answered more than 10,000 calls monthly during 2005.
- Fined health plans a total of nearly $1.5 million for violations in state law in 2005, compared to $723,000 in 2004.
Protecting consumers from fraudulent discount health card companies:
- Issued orders against six companies in 2004-05 to cease doing business in California.
- Assisted consumers with recovering fees paid to companies that sell discount health cards but don't offer verifiable discounts on health care services.
- Investigated more than 300 consumer complaints and identified about 100 victims in 2005.
Making more health insurance choices available:
- Approved 14 new and innovative health insurance products in 2005.
- Reduced the time required for approval of key health plan licensing documents from an average of 147 days in 2003 to 27 days in 2005, allowing plans to respond to the marketplace demand for new HMO benefit products.
- Offered new services through the HMO Help Center to ensure doctors and hospitals are paid promptly by health plans so that they can continue to operate - producing nearly $300,000 in additional payments in 2005.
The state Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) was created by the California Legislature in 2000 to help ensure high-quality health care for the nearly 21 million people who belong to managed health care plans. In 2005, the DMHC's HMO Help Center responded to more than 125,000 calls from health care consumers. The department also doubled the amount of fines against health plans during that same time period.
"Through our partnerships, the DMHC shares the responsibility of ensuring quality health care, health plan accountability and improving consumer education," DMHC Director Cindy Ehnes said. "The people at the DMHC are committed to helping Californians get the right health care at the right time."