Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
Posts related to the Covered California application, consumer account, estimating income, household size, monthly subsidies, health plans, Medi-Cal, and terminations.
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.
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 […]
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.
