Cal Consults

16% of Californians—or 6.3 million people—live in an area with a mental health professional shortage. For the one in three California residents now covered by Medi-Cal, access issues are made even worse by the limited number of psychiatrists who accept their insurance. New approaches are needed to ensure Medi-Cal beneficiaries have access to high-quality psychiatry consultations.

Cal Consults will help Medi-Cal members get the psychiatric and behavioral health services they need. Based on Beacon Health Options’ successful Massachusetts Child Psychiatric Access Program (MCPAP), Cal Consults is building a network of hubs that will provide robust telephonic consultation support for primary care providers (PCPs) treating both adults and children with behavioral health conditions.

Beacon’s goal is to bring together health plans, academic medical centers, providers and foundations to better support California’s Medi-Cal managed care enrollees.