[1] The DMHC Help Center provides direct assistance in all languages to health care consumers through the Department’s website, www.HealthHelp.ca.gov, and a toll-free phone number, 1-888-466-2219.
[3] This dual regulation arose due for historical reasons, and when the DMHC was created in 2000, the California legislature requested a report on merging the health insurer responsibilities with the CDI.
[4] In 2001, J. Clark Kelso, who served as acting California Insurance Commissioner in 2000, produced a report outlining costs and benefits of agency consolidation.
[5] In addition, the federal government regulates health insurance for members of the military, and "self-insured" or ERISA plans, offered by some large employers are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Labor.
The agency was created in July 2000, in the wake of widespread dissatisfaction with managed care across the country and in response to concerns that the prior regulator, the California Department of Corporations, lacked medical and consumer protection expertise.