Providers preparing for the January 1, 2027 Medi-Cal transition have an important planning date: November 1, 2026. That is when the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) will begin accepting Treatment Authorization Requests (TARs) for affected members’ services on January 1 or later, according to its new Fee-for-Service Provider Toolkit.
The guidance concerns members with what DHCS calls “Unsatisfactory Immigration Status” who are moving from managed care into fee-for-service (FFS).
Three details matter for providers:
- Prepare authorizations. Special handling is available when DHCS has an approved managed care authorization on record for the same service. Providers must still submit an electronic TAR meeting minimum requirements, but may omit supporting medical-justification attachments. This is not an automatic transfer of authorization.
- Check enrollment. Providers must be enrolled in Medi-Cal FFS to continue serving transitioning patients. Those already enrolled as FFS billing providers do not need a new enrollment for this transition.
- Confirm availability. Enrollment does not require providers to accept every new patient. Current information about which providers are accepting patients remains essential.
For clinics, health plans and community organizations, the November window offers time to identify unfinished authorization and provider arrangements before January. The practical test will be whether that preparation translates into appointments and uninterrupted treatment. Coverage alone cannot resolve a missing authorization or an unavailable provider.
Source: DHCS Provider Toolkit.
