Once a consumer renews their 2017 Covered California enrollment, the Report A Change becomes active. Use this link to make changes that will only apply to the 2017 household and income.
The open enrollment and renewal period for Covered California is fraught with peril if you need to make changes to your household such as a change to income. If you make adjustments for 2017 before you renew your coverage, the system thinks you are making changes for 2016. This could have the impact of placing household members into Medi-Cal.
Income Errors Result in Medi-Cal
If you are applying for a Covered California health plan for 2017, and are not currently in a Covered California plan, you need to input your income data correctly. Even though the coverage is for 2017, when the system asks for you current income, don’t indicate that it will start in January. Enter your income as it is today. If you enter that the income starts January 1, 2017, the system will put you into Medi-Cal, even though you applying for 2017.
Always Indicate Current Income During Open Enrollment
I had one gentleman learn this lesson the hard way. His group health plan will terminate December 31, 2016. He was applying for a Covered California health plan with the tax credit subsidy to begin January 1. Naturally, he assumed that the system wanted his income as of 2017, not 2016. Unfortunately, the Covered California CalHEERS application is so closely tied to Medi-Cal income limits that by not including his current income – it showed $0 income for 2016 – it placed him and his wife into Medi-Cal. Now the gentleman must wrestle with Medi-Cal to release him so he can select a plan for 2017.
Report 2016 Income for 2017 Enrollment to Avoid Medi-Cal
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Renew Coverage Before Reporting 2017 Updates
Similar situations can arise with other changes to the household when the changes will occur in 2017. For example, if you know that you won’t be taking one of your children as a dependent in 2017, you’ll want to make this change after you have renewed your coverage for 2017. Removing the child before you renew can make changes to your current coverage. If you know that the changes will only apply to your 2017 situation, and not your 2016 tax household, renew your coverage before you make the changes.
Use Report A Change for 2017 Updates
Once you renew the coverage, the Report A Change link becomes blue and is active. You want to use the active Report A Change link, and not the Report A Change for 2016 link for those updates that only apply to 2017. After you have renewed the Covered California coverage, you can make all sorts of changes that don’t apply to 2016. This is important because one wrong update before you have renewed can throw the whole family into Medi-Cal. Once you are in Medi-Cal, the Covered California system becomes useless. You must then communicate with Medi-Cal to make any changes to your account, even if you never were Medi-Cal eligible in the first place. If you have a child in Medi-Cal, all changes must be reported to the county office. Medi-Cal Takes Over Covered California
Don’t Panic
Covered California has exacerbated the problem of unintended mistakes with their renewal letters and emails. The correspondence alerts people that they must renew their coverage by a certain date or they will be automatically renewed into their current plan. While the letter also indicates they can change their plan designation by December 15th for a January 1st effective date, many people become frantic that they may lose coverage or be placed in a plan they don’t want. Hence, they rush to make changes to their accounts before walking through the necessary renewal process.
Open Enrollment & Renewal Overlap Complications
Open enrollment and the renewal process for Covered California can be complicated, especially if you need to make changes to the household or want a different health plan in 2017. You are not locked into a health plan even if Covered California has renewed you into it. If you have changes only for 2017, make sure you update your account with the Report A Change function after you have renewed. Before you hit the submit button for the changes, carefully review the information, in particular the income summary, to make sure you are not inadvertently flipping you and your family into Medi-Cal because of a date error.