California Medi-Cal Authorized Representative: Form MC 382 for Adult Children
Why You Need the MC 382
To act as a representative in a Medi-Cal or MSP case, you need Form MC 382 or a general financial power of attorney that grants authority over government benefits. Without accepted authorization, county staff can limit what case information they share with you or what actions you can take for your parent.
If you are an adult child managing a parent's Medicare Savings Program application, that authorization lets you call the county, submit paperwork, receive notices, and act on the case without your parent being physically present.
The Forms
Form MC 382 — Appointment of Authorized Representative is the current DHCS form. It replaces the older Form MC 306. Your parent signs it to designate you (or any other individual or organization) as their authorized representative. The form grants you authority to sign applications, submit verifications, and receive notices on their behalf.
Form MC 380 — Notice of Authorized Representative Appointment is the confirmation the county sends back after processing the MC 382. It acknowledges your designation is on file and active.
Form MC 381 — Cancellation or Change to AR Appointment is used to revoke or modify the designation later.
Form MC 383 — Standard Agreement for Organizations is required only when an advocacy group or legal entity acts as the representative, not for individual family members.
You need the MC 382. Submit it with the initial MSP application — not after. If you wait, the county processes the application, generates any Notices of Action or Requests for Information, and sends them all to your parent's address. By the time you learn about a documentation request, the 30-day response window may already be half gone.
How to Complete the MC 382
The form is straightforward. Your parent fills in their personal information (name, address, Medi-Cal case number if they have one, Social Security number) and your information as the designated representative. The scope of authority section lets your parent specify what you can do — for MSP purposes, check all applicable boxes: apply for benefits, receive information and notices, act on the case.
Your parent signs and dates the form. You also sign, acknowledging the responsibilities of acting as representative. If your parent cannot physically sign due to incapacity and already has a general financial power of attorney that grants authority over government benefits, that document is an alternative to MC 382 under county rules.
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Long-Distance Caregivers
If you live in another state, the MC 382 is essential. Without it, every piece of county correspondence goes only to your parent's California address. If your parent has cognitive decline, limited English, or simply does not open official-looking envelopes promptly, deadlines pass without response.
Submit the MC 382 by mail or fax to the county welfare department. Include a cover letter asking the county to add you as the authorized representative and to send all future notices to both your parent's address and your out-of-state address. Not all counties honor dual-mailing requests, but it establishes the expectation on the record.
After the MC 382 is on file, you can call the county directly to check case status, ask about processing timelines, and respond to any document requests. Keep the county's direct phone number and your parent's case number accessible — the automated phone trees at large counties like LA's DPSS can route you through unrelated departments if you do not ask for the Medi-Cal eligibility unit by name.
The Difference Between MC 382 and Power of Attorney
A Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) for health care covers clinical decisions — consent to treatment, medical records access, hospital discharge choices. It does not automatically give you authority over public benefit applications with the county welfare department.
For Medi-Cal and MSP cases, the county requires either a completed MC 382 or a general financial DPOA that specifically grants authority over government benefits. The MC 382 or DPOA establishes authority for the county case; confirm Social Security or Medicare's own representative requirements before relying on either document with those agencies.
A conservatorship granted by the court also establishes representative authority, but that is a far heavier legal step than what most MSP applications require.
Our California Medicare Savings Programs & Extra Help Guide includes the MC 382 completion instructions, a pre-submission checklist, and call scripts for reaching the right unit at your parent's county welfare department — built for adult children doing this from a distance.
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