To cancel IEHP insurance, you don’t contact IEHP. If you’re a Medi-Cal member, you go through Health Care Options, the state program that handles enrollment and disenrollment for every Medi-Cal managed care plan in California. If you’re an IEHP DualChoice member with both Medicare and Medi-Cal, you disenroll through Medicare or by sending IEHP a signed written notice. In most cases what people call “canceling” is really switching plans, since your Medi-Cal eligibility continues as long as you qualify.
Medi-Cal Members Change Plans Through Health Care Options
IEHP does not process its own Medi-Cal disenrollments. That authority sits with Health Care Options (HCO), run by the California Department of Health Care Services.1Inland Empire Health Plan. IEHP Provider Policy and Procedure Manual – Enrollment and Assignment Calling IEHP member services at 1-866-294-4347 will get you pointed to HCO.
The paperwork is called the Medi-Cal Choice Form. It handles new enrollments and plan changes on the same form. You can download it from healthcareoptions.dhcs.ca.gov or pick one up at a Department of Public Social Services office in Riverside or San Bernardino County.2California Department of Health Care Services. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
You’ll need your name, date of birth, and Medi-Cal ID number, which is printed on the front of your IEHP member card. The form asks you to mark a reason for leaving. Options include not being able to see the doctor you wanted, the plan not meeting your needs, moving out of the county, and the plan being too far away, among others.3California Department of Health Care Services. Medi-Cal Choice Form If you’re switching to another managed care plan, you pick the new plan on the same form.
Three Ways to Submit the Choice Form
Phone is fastest. Call HCO at 1-800-430-4263 (TTY 1-800-430-7077), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. A representative can process the change over the phone and confirm it on the call.4California Department of Health Care Services. Contact Us
By mail, send the completed form to California Department of Health Care Services, Health Care Options, P.O. Box 989009, West Sacramento, CA 95798-9850. Certified mail or tracked delivery gives you proof of arrival.3California Department of Health Care Services. Medi-Cal Choice Form
In person, visit an HCO presentation site, usually located at a county social services office, where staff can help you complete and submit the form.2California Department of Health Care Services. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
When the Switch Takes Effect
Plan changes follow a monthly cycle with a mid-month cutoff. If HCO receives and processes your request before the cutoff, the new plan starts on the first day of the following month. Requests processed after the cutoff generally push the start date to the first of the month after that. A request processed in early March would typically give you an April 1 effective date; a late-March request might not activate until May 1.
Until the new plan’s start date, keep using your IEHP card for appointments and prescriptions. Stopping IEHP early can leave you with uncovered bills during the gap. Once the change goes through, the state sends a confirmation notice and the new plan mails its own ID card and provider directory.
DualChoice Members Follow a Medicare Process
IEHP DualChoice is a Medicare Advantage Dual Special Needs Plan (D-SNP), so the Medicare side is governed by federal rules. DualChoice members can request disenrollment in any month, for any reason, using one of three routes:5Inland Empire Health Plan. IEHP Provider Manual – Member Transfers and Disenrollment
- Enroll in a different Medicare Advantage or Part D plan. Joining a new plan automatically disenrolls you from DualChoice.
- Send IEHP a signed written disenrollment notice, in writing or by fax to IEHP DualChoice.
- Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Because you have both Medicare and full Medicaid benefits, you qualify for a monthly Special Enrollment Period that lets you make plan changes once per calendar month, year-round.6Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Special Enrollment Periods for Dually Eligible Individuals The monthly SEP only allows enrollment into certain plan types: another D-SNP, a fully integrated plan, or Original Medicare with a standalone Part D drug plan. You generally cannot use it to enroll in a regular Medicare Advantage plan that isn’t a D-SNP.
Disenrolling from the Medicare side of DualChoice doesn’t end your Medi-Cal benefits. You’ll still need Medi-Cal managed care coverage, so if you also want to leave IEHP’s Medi-Cal plan, contact Health Care Options about that piece separately.
For DualChoice-specific questions, IEHP’s dedicated line is 1-800-741-4347, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week including holidays.
Moving Out of the Service Area
IEHP only covers residents of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.1Inland Empire Health Plan. IEHP Provider Policy and Procedure Manual – Enrollment and Assignment Moving to another California county means leaving IEHP, but not leaving Medi-Cal. You’ll be assigned to a managed care plan in your new county, or you can pick one through HCO before the move. “Moving out of the county” is one of the listed reasons on the Choice Form.3California Department of Health Care Services. Medi-Cal Choice Form
Moving out of California is different. Medi-Cal is a California program, so relocating to another state means applying for that state’s Medicaid separately. California regulations treat absences of 60 days or less as temporary. Once you establish residency elsewhere, through actions like getting an out-of-state driver’s license, signing a lease, or applying for benefits in the new state, your Medi-Cal eligibility ends. Report your move to your county social services office so coverage closes cleanly.
If You’re Losing Medi-Cal Eligibility, Not Just Switching
Some people looking to cancel IEHP have actually lost Medi-Cal eligibility, often because income rose above the threshold at renewal. That’s a different situation, and Covered California may automatically pick a marketplace plan for you to avoid a coverage gap. You’ll get an eligibility notice explaining the plan and premium, and you have 90 days from the last day of your Medi-Cal coverage to change to a different Covered California plan without waiting for open enrollment.7Covered California. You Don’t Qualify for Medi-Cal Anymore. Now What? If no plan was auto-selected, that same 90-day window still applies. Miss it and you’ll typically wait until the next open enrollment period, unless another qualifying life event occurs.