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 developed a reprieve from immediate reporting to SAWS in the event of an error on the application that triggers Medi-Cal eligibility. The one-day delay in reporting the eligibility results to Medi-Cal is outlined in the CalHEERS 19.7 release scheduled to be implement on July 22, 2019.
The rallying cry in the 2020 presidential primaries is Medicare For All. But Original Medicare is the sort of health insurance that the Affordable Care Act set out to ban from the market place. Original Medicare has no annual caps on the maximum out-of-pocket a consumer must pay for either hospitalization or outpatient services. People can incur multiple Part A hospitalization deductibles during the year. The 20 percent coinsurance for medical services can mean some tests, imaging, and procedures can cost the consumer hundreds of dollars. Plus, there is no prescription drug coverage.
It is not intuitive that a person who is not automatically enrolled in Medicare must contact the Social Security Administration (SSA). However, the SSA is the gatekeeper of your employment and income records and therefore can make the determination of who is eligible for Medicare based on their work history.
The family continued to wait, not paying any of the invoices they received because they figured that Covered California was working to resolve the issue. The health insurance plan was terminated by the health plan for lack of payment. If the consumer does not pay the all the premiums after 90 days, the consumer loses the right to make all the back-premium payments and reinstate the health plan. This is what happened to the family.
The brochure also outlines the rights and responsibilities of the Medi-Cal beneficiary. Eligibility determinations, either enrollment or termination, can be appealed. myMedi-Cal discusses the time periods for the appeals and the right to a State Fair Hearing.
Prior to the 19.4 update, I could always review the documents and correspondence for an account as an agent. This information was vital to see when letters were sent out and if they were returned to Covered California. It also showed which documents we had uploaded for verification purposes like income or residency. As of Monday, May 20, this section has vanished.
Until Covered California fixed the glitch, all women who reported they were pregnant were channeled into the Full Scope Medi-Cal for Pregnant Women program and had their Covered California health plans automatically terminated. This was a nightmare for many families as it completely disrupted their plans for the OBGYN they wanted to see and where they wanted to have their baby delivered.
The 1095-A is almost as important as filing taxes. Even if you did not owe taxes in 2017, but still received the APTC, you have to file a tax return. Covered California has been notified by the IRS if a current household, receiving the subsidy, has not filed a 2017 tax return. Covered California is sending out letters to consumers that their current monthly APTC subsidy will be terminated if they do not resolve the issue.
If the carriers feel threatened by the HCSM plans, they should lobby the legislature to ban those plans as well. Don’t use health insurance agents, under the guise of retribution from Covered California, to achieve the objective of limiting the enrollment in these plans. I completely get that if all the healthy people leave the pool, the carriers are going to have problems paying claims, and may exit the market altogether. We don’t want this to happen. But I’m just the agent. Don’t shoot me to protect your business model.
The Special Enrollment Period, Qualifying Life Events, and changes to income are VERY date sensitive. It can also be a little confusing in terms of what dates to use. If you don’t enter the correct dates, such as when income stopped or started, the application process can go sideways and you might be determined eligible for Medi-Cal. When in doubt, call your agent or the Covered California customer service line to determine the correct dates for your qualifying life event.
Kevin Knauss provides no cost health insurance rate quotes and enrollment.
Kevin Knauss, Education Before Enrollment, Health Insurance Bridge
Visit the IMK File Explorer page to find the latest documents from a variety of health plans for individuals, families, and small groups.
