Last November, the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) released the results of an audit of the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Covered California networks. Among other things, the audit found that 12.8 percent of the physicians listed on Anthem’s network were not accepting Covered California patients, while 12.5 percent were not in practice at the location listed in Anthem’s directory.

In the case of Blue Shield, only 56.7 percent of the physicians listed in Blue Shield's Covered California directory could be verified as accepting Covered California patients. These inaccuracy rates were consistent with the California Medical Association's (CMA) and some county medical societies' own verification efforts and analyses.

DMHC will be conducting a follow-up of its audit this fall to determine whether the health plans have resolved their inaccurate network directories. Physicians who are misidentified as participating in a network by Anthem or Blue Shield when in fact they are not, or whose information in a network directory is inaccurate, are urged to contact CMA’s Center for Economic Services at (888) 401-5911 or economicservices@cmadocs.org.