(a) The board shall contract with a broad range of health plans in an area, if available, to ensure that subscribers have a choice from among a reasonable number and types of competing health plans. The board shall develop and make available objective criteria for health plan selection and provide adequate notice of the application process to permit all health plans a reasonable and fair opportunity to participate. The criteria and application process shall allow participating health plans to comply with their state and federal licensing and regulatory obligations, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. Health plan selection shall be based on the criteria developed by the board.

(b) (1) In its selection of participating plans the board shall take all reasonable steps to assure the range of choices available to each applicant, other than a purchasing credit member, shall include plans that include in their provider networks and have signed contracts with traditional and safety net providers.

(2) Participating health plans shall be required to submit to the board on an annual basis a report summarizing their provider network. The report shall provide, as available, information on the provider network as it relates to:

(A) Geographic access for the subscribers.

(B) Linguistic services.

(C) The ethnic composition of providers.

(D) The number of subscribers who selected traditional and safety net providers.

(c) (1) The board shall not rely solely on the Department of Managed Health Care’s determination of a health plan network’s adequacy or geographic access to providers in the awarding of contracts under this part. The board shall collect and review demographic, census, and other data to provide to prospective local initiatives, health plans, or specialized health plans, as defined in this act, specific provider contracting target areas with significant numbers of uninsured children in low-income families. The board shall give priority to those plans, on a county-by-county basis, that demonstrate that they have included in their prospective plan networks significant numbers of providers in these geographic areas.

(2) Targeted contracting areas are those ZIP Codes or groups of ZIP Codes or census tracts or groups of census tracts that have a percentage of uninsured children in low-income families greater than the overall percentage of uninsured children in low-income families in that county.

(d) In each geographic area, the board shall designate a community provider plan that is the participating health plan which has the highest percentage of traditional and safety net providers in its network. Subscribers selecting such a plan shall be given a family contribution discount as described in Section 12693.43.

(e) The board shall establish reasonable limits on health plan administrative costs.

(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 857, Sec. 75. Effective January 1, 2001.)