Covered California

The Covered California application has been updated to better recognize and process documents related to confirming the identity of the applicant. With just the information on the application (name, address, date of birth, and social security number) the system can now quickly verify the applicant. Covered California has done away with the identity proofing questions.

Once your application for health insurance is approved by Covered California, the clock starts ticking on the Reasonable Opportunity Period (ROP) of 95-days to submit any proof or verification requests from Covered California. If they do request verification for conditional elements such as income, immigration, or minimum essential coverage, they will send you a letter.

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.