Minor's Consent for Services
Provider Type
- Physicians
- Participating Physician Groups (PPG)
- Hospitals
- Ancillary
Members under age 18 may access and obtain minor consent services without parental consent and without prior authorization of coverage. Minor consent services are related to covered services of a sensitive nature as shown in the table below and are categorized by age as follows:
Covered Services | Minor may consent if age 12 and over | Minor may consent if under age 12 |
|---|---|---|
Family planning (prevention and treatment of pregnancy, except sterilization) | Yes | Yes |
Abortion* (termination of pregnancy) | Yes | Yes |
Sexual assault, including rape | Yes | Yes |
Infectious, contagious, communicable diseases (diagnosis and treatment) | Yes | No |
Sexually transmitted diseases (prevention, diagnosis and treatment) | Yes | No |
AIDS/HIV (prevention, diagnosis and treatment) | Yes | No |
Drug and alcohol abuse | Yes | No |
Outpatient mental health | Yes | No |
*American Academy of Pediatrics v. Lungren, 16 Cal. 4th 307 (1997)
Members may access most services from any qualified provider, in or out-of-network, except as follows:
- Obstetrical care for pregnancy - must be accessed through an in-network provider (pregnancy testing is considered to be a family planning service and may be obtained from any qualified provider in or out-of-network).
- Drug and alcohol treatment - members are entitled to confidential, timely referral to the county drug and alcohol program, refer to the Public Programs topic for additional information.
- Minors ages 16 or older may consent to receive medications that use buprenorphine for opioid use disorder as narcotic replacement therapy without parent or guardian consent. Assembly Bill (AB) 816 (2023) revised Family Code Section 6929 and added Family Code Section 6929.1 that expands minor consent to include narcotic replacement therapy only in a detoxification setting. Parent or guardian consent is necessary for maintenance narcotic replacement therapy.
- Mental health care - refer to the Public Programs topic for additional information. Members ages 12 or older who are mature enough to participate intelligently are entitled to timely, confidential referral to the local mental health program.