Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
Posts related to California's Medi-Cal program, specifically MAGI based, income eligibility, enrollment, costs, children, Covered California.
In California there are essentially five different paths to getting health insurance. Each of the different options have varying conditions and restrictions. Below is a summary of the five paths to California health insurance. There is also a short video you can watch titled California Paths to Health Insurance which also explains the five different […]
Many parents are surprised to learn that their children are placed in Medi-Cal after completing the Covered California health insurance application. Medi-Cal eligibility is determined by the monthly household income, not the annual Modified Adjusted Gross Income. If the monthly household income is below 266% of the federal poverty level (FPL), but above 138% of […]
The federal Department of Health and Human Services has published the 2015 federal poverty line (FPL) which includes a modest increase over the 2014 FPL. The FPL is used by Marketplace exchanges like Covered California to determine when an individual or family is eligible for either Medicaid, Medi-Cal in California, or tax credits to purchase […]
Numerous individuals with income below the ACA threshold to receive tax credits must weigh the consequences of selling assets in order to be eligible for the tax credits to purchase a private plan through a Marketplace exchange like Covered California. The prospect of selling retirement assets early in order to qualify for affordable health […]
The Affordable Care Act has helped provide health insurance to millions of America’s citizens and residents. The accompanying bureaucracy has also created mental health meltdowns for thousands of individuals and families. Through a series of website glitches, bureaucratic rules and purposely designed narrow provider networks, the ACA is delivering unparalleled amounts of stress, anxiety, and for […]
There has been a strong reluctance among unemployed professionals to enroll in the ACA’s expanded Medicaid or Medi-Cal programs. For most people, being a Medi-Cal member just has a stigma they would rather avoid. However, in certain situations, Medi-Cal can be a great solution to avoiding the high premiums of COBRA while letting the professional focus on getting […]
What’s the difference between a Covered California enrollment for a subsidized private plan and Medi-Cal? Nothing when assisted by a Certified Insurance Agent. A Medi-Cal enrollment takes just as much knowledge, experience and time to perform for an agent as an enrollment for a private plan through Covered California. Yet, a Medi-Cal enrollment only yields […]
In recent weeks I’ve been contacted by several consumers who found out they had been enrolled in Medi-Cal while receiving, and still paying, for their subsidized private health insurance through Covered California. Aside from the obvious question of how could this happen, is the reality that Covered California may have been advancing tax credits to private health […]
Blue Shield of California announced that it was getting a slice of the lucrative government Medi-Cal pie with its acquisition of Care1st of Los Angeles County. Blue Shield has been missing the easy money of Medi-Cal payments that Blue Cross, Health Net and Kaiser have been receiving from different California counties when they offer a Medi-Cal managed care HMO […]
Contrary to Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) statements in their Medi-Cal Essentials webinar, agents will not be receiving any payments for assisting clients that were enrolled into Medi-Cal through a Covered California application in the near future. Recent email communication from Covered California to Certified Insurance Agents suggests thatcompensation of approximately $58 per Medi-Cal […]
