An email sent by the Dental Board of California in late February notified all dentists that the California Department of Health Care Services will begin enforcing the Medi-Cal enrollment requirement for prescribers. CDA has received many questions from members about the upcoming change and provides the following key points for clarification:
- The prescriber enrollment requirement only applies to dentists who may treat Medi-Cal patients.
- If a dentist is prescribing to a Medi-Cal beneficiary, the dentist will need to be enrolled in Medi-Cal for the patient to have their prescription covered by Medi-Cal (effective June 26, 2026).
- Medi-Cal Dental will eliminate the ordering/referring/prescribing category of providers effective June 26, 2026; therefore, if you are currently not enrolled as a Medi-Cal Dental treating provider and you prescribe to a Medi-Cal Dental patient, that patient will not be able to use their Medi-Cal prescription benefit.
- If a dentist is already enrolled in Medi-Cal, there is no additional enrollment process they must follow to prescribe. A dentist who is credentialed by a Medi-Cal managed care plan (including a dental managed care plan) will also need to be enrolled directly with Medi-Cal for their prescription to be covered by Medi-Cal.
DHCS is implementing this policy change for all Medi-Cal providers, including dentists. CDA will share additional updates as we learn more. Impacted prescribing dentists can also view DHCS’s FAQ covering the changes effective June 2026 and other Medi-Cal provider enrollment questions.