Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
Posts related to how California MAGI Medi-Cal works, especially with Covered California, enrollment, termination, household income.
Individuals and families in Medi-Cal HMO plans in 22 counties across the state may have to select a new health plan and doctors beginning January 2024. The Department of Health Care Services is transforming the Medi-Cal health plans with new requirements with the aim to improve health care quality. Implementation of the new contracts, along […]
Some people only learn they have been flipped into Medi-Cal when they are at their doctor’s office and the receptionist tells them their health insurance has been cancelled. What follows for many people is a nightmare scenario of trying to learn why their Covered California plan was terminated, who terminated it, why they are in Medi-Cal, and how to get of the Medi-Cal system.
The Medi-Cal annual redetermination paperwork can be confusing and complicated. It can be hard to reach a county Medi-Cal case worker to answer questions. The Department of Health Care Services maintains a webpage of local health enrollment navigators by county.
If you never check your Covered California secure email box, opt to receive important letters delivered to your home address. The notices will alert you if you are losing your subsidies, health insurance, or being put into Medi-Cal.
The purpose of this All-County Welfare Directors Letter (ACWDL) is to provide counties with guidance regarding the elimination of assets for Non-Modified Adjusted Gross Income (Non-MAGI) Medi-Cal programs and the elimination of the requirement to compute and report potential overpayments based on excess property.
State and federal law require Medi-Cal to seek the reimbursement for health care services from any settlement that results from a personal injury or accident paid by a third-party such as an insurance company that covered the responsible party for liability.
If there is no existing enrollment of any family member into a Covered California health plan, the default plan selection in most cases will be the lowest cost Silver plan. For many people with low incomes, there may be no monthly premium for the lowest cost Silver plan. If you don’t like the plan selection, you can change it.
Each county handles Medi-Cal eligibility and enrollment. The California Department of Health Care Services manages the Medi-Cal programs. You need to be in communication with your county Medi-Cal office to update information in the Medi-Cal system. To find your county office address, phone number, and website visit https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/medi-cal/Pages/CountyOffices.aspx
With a few clicks on a computer keyboard, a county Medi-Cal worker ripped Phoebe’s health insurance away leaving her completely uninsured. It didn’t even show that she was pending Medi-Cal eligible. She had become uninsured.
In order to avoid some people bouncing back and forth between Medi-Cal and private health insurance, the Department of Health Care Services applied for a waiver to review the assets of the non-MAGI Medi-Cal beneficiaries through the end of 2023. This waiver was granted by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS.)
