Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
Posts on the development and implementation of the California health insurance market place, application, account, enrollment, termination.
Covered California has estimated that 112,000 individuals will lose the health insurance subsidy under the proposed Republican budget reconciliation bill now under consideration in Congress. Language in the bill would prevent lawfully permanent residents in close to 40 categories from receiving the Advance Premium Tax Credit subsidy to lower health insurance premiums. Republican bill to […]
Except for a few qualifying life events, you have a 60-day special enrollment period window to enroll in health insurance from the date of the event. The qualifying life events listed below are of May 2025. Proposed rule changes by the Trump administration may mean some events are no longer eligible for the special enrollment period.
The management of websites, especially as large and complicated as Covered California, requires professionals that understand all the code, trackers, cookies, and tags. It is surprising that the Covered California IT team missed the tag that was gathering personal information and sending it to LinkedIn.
President Trump has instilled fear and caution in consumers applying for health insurance. Some consumers are skipping over optional questions that pertain to ethnicity and gender identity fearful their responses may be used against them in the future by the Trump administration. I agree with them.
Central to Altman’s response, and threads through eleven-page letter, is that Covered California’s success is a function of the flexibility the state had to implement innovative strategies to help consumers enroll in health insurance. The new CMS rules are based on a one-size-fits-all concept when each state’s population is different.
The explanation of the rule changes by CMS is peppered with terms like “protect consumers”, “stable marketplace”, “reduce adverse selection”, and “improve risk pool.” However, the individual and family market has been very stable for many years. I have not heard of any California health plans getting sick, going bankrupt, or dying because they could not get health care.
If one of the individuals in that two-person household is pregnant, the pregnant individual could gain Medi-Cal if the income is under $3,756 per month. This is based on the 213% column, full scope Medi-Cal for pregnant individuals. The other adult would still be eligible for Covered California and the subsidy since the monthly income is over 138% of the federal poverty level.
If California congressional Republicans vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act and with its expanded adult Medi-Cal access, they will be irrevocably injuring thousands of their own constituents. Not all Medi-Cal programs that provide assistance to Medicare beneficiaries, children, and their caretakers are intertwined with the ACA. However, we all know that an accident or illness that befalls a household’s primary wage earner can lead to cascading effects for the whole family. Medi-Cal helps people bounce back after an accident or illness to support the whole family.
Covered California households with incomes below 250 percent of the federal poverty will be eligible for a reloadable debit card to purchase food. The monthly amount will be $80 for each eligible household member. Through the application process, it will be determined if the individual or family is experiencing food insecurity.
The MAGI reported on lines 11, 6a, 6b, 2a, 2b, and 1h. Income from the schedules, such as schedule C Profit Loss from a business, is funneled onto line 1. You may need to find a specific schedule to determine the income or deduction to properly estimate your future income for Covered California. This is an income estimate. It is not necessary based on your last file federal tax return.
