The IHSS Health Care Certification (SOC 873)

What SOC 873 is for

The Health Care Certification is the medical piece In-Home Supportive Services asks for. It is not the application. The application is SOC 295. SOC 873 tells the county that a licensed health professional has documented the need that IHSS is built around: help so the person can remain safely at home.

CDSS and county regulations treat this page as a gate. A completed SOC 873, or acceptable alternative documentation signed by a licensed health care professional, must reach the county before services are authorized. Families sometimes treat it as optional paperwork. The county treats it as the medical foundation next to the own-home setting and the Medi-Cal determination.

Who completes it, and who does not

A licensed health professional completes the form. That is often the clinician who already follows the person’s chronic conditions. An adult child can carry the blank form, sit in the exam room if the parent wants that, and return the signed page. The adult child does not sign the medical certification.

If the usual clinician is hard to reach, ask the county what they will accept. Some offices will walk you through a clinic, a specialist, or another licensed professional. This site does not publish a private list of acceptable licenses. The county file is the place that question belongs.

Why the county wants it before authorization

The in-home assessment is about functional need: which daily tasks the person cannot safely do alone, and which service categories fit. SOC 873 is the health-care statement that those needs exist in a medical context. Without it, the social worker is missing a required page. Hours on a Notice of Action wait for that page.

That is why a file can look “almost ready” and still sit. SOC 295 is in. Medi-Cal may even be active. The home visit may be scheduled. If SOC 873 is blank, unsigned, or never returned, authorization does not finish. Who decides hours still depends on a complete medical certification first.

When alternative documentation may be accepted

CDSS regulations allow acceptable alternative documentation in place of the SOC 873 form when it meets the Health Care Certification purpose. The county decides what is acceptable. Do not assume a hospital discharge, a therapy note, or a disability award letter is enough. Ask the IHSS office whether they want the form itself or a named alternative.

• Ask for the current SOC 873 the county is using.
• Ask whether they will accept a specific alternative page if the clinician cannot use the form.
• Return the signed document the way the county asked (mail, upload, or drop-off).
• Keep a copy. Call once to confirm it reached the file.

What not to invent on the form

Do not write hour totals for the clinician to copy. The social worker authorizes hours using Functional Index Rankings and Hourly Task Guidelines. Do not attach a diagnosis dump unless the county requested a specific page. Do not leave fields blank because a parent is tired of forms. Incomplete packets sit.

Names should match the Medi-Cal case. A nickname on SOC 873 and a legal name on Medi-Cal is a common bounce. If the person is a minor, the same certification still applies. Parent-provider rules are a different question after ACL 23-106, not a reason to skip the medical page.

Where the form sits in the larger packet

Read CDSS IHSS and use the county office list to return the page to the right unit. The eligibility overview shows how SOC 873 sits next to Medi-Cal and the home visit. If you want help tracking that packet, you can ask for help.