Medi-Cal for Kids & Teens
Preventive and treatment services from birth to young adult (under age 21)
Medi-Cal for Kids & Teens provides services at no cost to keep your child healthy from the moment they are born to under age 21. These services are called Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT).
Covered Medi-Cal benefits for Kids & Teens include a broad range of preventative services such as check-ups, vaccines, diagnostic, physical, mental, and dental health treatment.
It’s important to take your child for regular check-ups even if they aren’t sick. Regular check-ups can prevent health problems by finding and addressing them early. Make an appointment any time to talk to a doctor, even if your child just had a check-up.
What are Medi-Cal for Kids & Teens preventive care services?
Services that ensure that infants, children, and youth under age 21 get the care they need at the right age. Services like:
- Well-child visits and teen check-ups (important visits children need to check their developmental history)
- Immunizations (also called vaccines or shots)
- Behavioral health assessment and treatment
- Mental health treatment and evaluation such as trauma screening, including individual, group and family psychotherapy (specialty mental health services are covered by the county)
- Lab tests (including blood lead poisoning screening)
- Health and preventive education
- Vision services
- Dental services (covered by Medi-Cal Dental)
- Hearing services (SCFHP will cover services for children who do not qualify for CCS)
How do I get preventive care services for my kid or teen?
Call your child’s doctor to schedule check-ups, screenings, or other preventive care.
Which preventive care services does a kid or teen need?
Preventive care includes vaccines, regular health check-ups and screenings to help your child’s doctor find problems early, and counseling services to detect illnesses, diseases, or medical conditions before they cause problems. Problems can include medical, dental, vision, hearing, mental health, and any substance use (drug) disorders.
Preventive care services and screenings are available at no cost and without pre-approval (prior authorization). For more guidelines, see Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations for preventive care based on age.
See the general guidelines for preventive care based on age below.
Well-care visits for babies (also called well-baby visits) include: checking your baby’s growth, getting vaccines to prevent diseases, and getting screenings for vision, hearing, lead, oral health, and development.
Well-child visits for children ages 1–4 include: checking your child’s growth, getting vaccines to prevent diseases, and getting screenings for vision, hearing, lead, anemia, tuberculosis, oral health, pyschosocial/behavioral, and development.
Well-child visits for children ages 5–10 include: checking your child’s growth, getting vaccines to prevent diseases, and getting screenings for vision, hearing, lead, anemia, tuberculosis, oral health, psychosocial/behavioral, and development.
Well-child visits for children ages 11–15 include: checking your child’s growth, getting vaccines to prevent diseases, and getting screenings for vision, hearing, oral health, anemia, tuberculosis, substance use disorder, sexual health, depression, and development.
Well-care visits for adolescents ages 16–21 include: checking your teen’s growth, getting vaccines to prevent diseases, and getting screenings for vision, hearing, substance use disorder, depression, sexual health, and development.
For more information, see Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics' complete list of recommendations for preventive care based on age.
You may qualify for rewards!
SCFHP rewards its Medi-Cal members for taking steps to a healthier life. Click here, to see a full list of Wellness Rewards we offer eligible members for completing routine health exams, screening, or education.
If you have more questions about preventive care services, please call SCFHP Customer Service at 1-800-260-2055 (TTY: 711), Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If you speak a language other than English, language assistance services, free of charge, are available to you. Call Customer Service at 1-800-260-2055 (TTY: 711), Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The call is free.