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The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has decided to delay the full implementation of Medi-Cal Rx, which was scheduled for April 1. The delay is due to the need to review new conflict avoidance protocols submitted by Magellan Health, the project’s contracted vendor.
In January 2021, Centene Corporation, which operates managed care plans and pharmacies — through subsidiaries — that participate in Medi-Cal, announced that it plans to acquire Magellan. This transaction was unexpected and requires additional time for exploration of acceptable conflict avoidance protocols to ensure there will be suitable firewalls between the corporate entities to protect the pharmacy claims data of all Medi-Cal beneficiaries, and to protect other proprietary information.
DHCS anticipates having more information in May. In the meantime, questions can be directed to the Medi-Cal Rx Project Team at RxCarveOut@dhcs.ca.gov.
