NOABD Attachments (2025)

BHIN 25-015, published in April 2025, provided updates to the Notice of Adverse Benefit Determination (NOABD) processes and templates. There are 16 enclosures associated with this BHIN, which provide the updated templates for all NOABDs, as well as grievance and appeal-related letters and any attachments that may need to be enclosed with any NOABD or letter when sent to the Client. CalMHSA updated the existing letter templates for the NOABDs in SmartCare to match these BHIN enclosures. In August 2025, Nevada County pointed out that the BHIN itself indicated that when sending out NOABDs to clients, there are 3 enclosures that are required for any and all NOABDs:

1. NOABD Your Rights¹
2. Non-discrimination Notice²
3. Notice of Availability (previously known as the Language Assistance Taglines)²

However, the DHCS-provided NOABD templates did not all include all 3 of these attachments listed as “enclosed”. The BHIN also indicates that changes cannot be made to the DHCS templates. Nevada County reached out to DHCS to get clarification. They received this response, which was forwarded to CalMHSA:

“Since the BHIN guidance and the language in NOABD templates #4–9 regarding enclosed enclosures differ, I recommend the team follow the BHIN guidance and include all three mandatory enclosures when issuing the NOABD.” ³

In light of this guidance, CalMHSA has made updates to the SmartCare NOABD letter templates to now include all 3 attachments as “enclosures”.