Question: My daughter got Medi-Cal, as she was unemployed last year. She found a new, though, low paying, job about 6 months ago, but forgot to report the income change. Will this effect her ability to get Covered Ca in a timely fashion? She needs about 6 different prescriptions, and can't afford to be without her medicines. She also can't afford to buy insurance with any help. What should she do?
Answer: If your daughter is making less than $1,350 per month, she is still eligible for Medi-Cal and doesn't need to make any changes. If she is making somewhat more, but not a lot more, she can wait for open enrollment to make her income change and next year she will be on Covered California with premium assistance. There will be no financial penalty for underestimating her income in 2015.
When I applied with Cov Ca in Dec of 2013, I qualified for a plan with a subsidy. However, Medi Cal says I am eligible. Although I think I am not. Cov Ca said I was not. However, Medi Cal continues to keep me enrolled even though I filled out a withdrawal form last year and supposedly was terminated at the end of Dec. Well that was good for about 6 months until they re-enrolled me again this month causing more conflict with my Cov Ca plan. If Cov Ca doesn’t think I qualify for enrollment in Medi Cal then where is the breakdown? I wish the two agencies would get their act together. Just wondering what I should do next! Re enrollment is in Nov and I have 1 year and a half before Medicare eligibility..
Actually she doesn’t have to wait. She only needs to alert Medi Cal of the income increase. When they purge her from the system it triggers a loss of coverage qualifying event. Perhaps she is still under the benchmark because it’s unlikely that Medi Cal would let her ride this out for 6 months.