Medi-Cal Therapists - IEHP and L.A. Care

ACT Family Counseling sees Medi-Cal members through Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), L.A. Care and CalOptima Health. If your card carries any of those names, you can be seen here.

You will see it written both ways — Medi-Cal, or just “medical” — and people looking for a therapist that takes medical, or for therapists that accept Medi-Cal, usually mean this. Same thing. Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program.

Yes. Medi-Cal includes mental health benefits. The part that trips people up is not whether it is covered but who administers it — because that decides which therapists you can actually see.

Many Medi-Cal members in this part of California are enrolled in a managed care plan rather than fee-for-service Medi-Cal. In Riverside and San Bernardino counties that plan is usually IEHP. In Los Angeles County it is often L.A. Care, and in Orange County it is CalOptima Health. ACT accepts all three.

ACT is a contracted IEHP provider, so IEHP members can be seen here. You can be seen at our Ontario or Rancho Cucamonga offices — so if you have been searching for a therapist near me that takes IEHP, these are the closest. Telehealth is available anywhere in California. If you are not sure whether you need a referral first, ask us and we will find out; it is a short call and we would rather make it than have you wait.

L.A. Care members can be seen by telehealth anywhere in California, and in person at our Ontario or Rancho Cucamonga offices. The intake process is the same: send a request, we confirm your benefits with the plan, and you are booked.

CalOptima Health is the Medi-Cal plan for Orange County, and ACT is a contracted CalOptima Health provider. You can be seen in person at our Huntington Beach, Beach Boulevard and Newport Beach offices, or by telehealth anywhere in California. There is more on our CalOptima behavioral health page.

We will be straight with you: ACT is not contracted with straight fee-for-service Medi-Cal, only with the managed care plans above. If your card shows none of IEHP, L.A. Care or CalOptima Health, call the member services number on it and ask which plan administers your benefits — or send us a message and we will check for you before you make an appointment you cannot use.

A lot of people search for a Medi-Cal psychologist when what they need is a therapist, and the distinction matters when you are booking. Our clinicians are licensed therapists — Marriage and Family Therapists, Clinical Social Workers and Professional Clinical Counselors — not psychologists. For talking therapy, a licensed therapist is who most people see. If you specifically need psychological testing or a formal assessment, tell us when you get in touch and we will give you the name of a psychologist who does it.

People are often surprised this is available at all. Couples therapy and marriage counseling are part of what we offer IEHP, L.A. Care and CalOptima Health members. You do not both need to be sure you want to be there — plenty of couples start with one person more convinced than the other.

In person at our Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga offices for IEHP and L.A. Care, our Orange County offices for CalOptima Health, and by telehealth anywhere in California. You can also see the full list of plans we are contracted with.