{"id":11427,"date":"2014-09-23T11:42:55","date_gmt":"2014-09-23T18:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/?p=7182"},"modified":"2014-09-23T11:42:55","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T18:42:55","slug":"medi-cal-backlog-leaves-california-residents-in-health-limbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/health-insurance-blog\/medi-cal-backlog-leaves-california-residents-in-health-limbo\/","title":{"rendered":"Medi-Cal Backlog Leaves California Residents in Health Limbo"},"content":{"rendered":"

California\u2019s infamous government efficiencies have led to a lawsuit filed by health advocates over a huge backlog of Medi-Cal applications. As of September 1, 350,000 applications remained in limbo in the enrollment system \u2013 a system weighed down by computer troubles that have blocked county government attempts to verify patients’ Medi-Cal eligibility, and frustrating the progress of Obamacare\u2019s healthcare insurance<\/a> coverage.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, states California is not in compliance. By law, the state’s Department of Health Care Services is required to process applications for Medi-Cal – the state health insurance program for low-income residents – within 45 days. But hundreds of thousands of applications have sat around longer than that, many for nine months or more. The backlog reached 900,000 applications a few months ago.<\/p>\n

Some applicants have been waiting to receive their Medi-Cal cards since the end of last year. According to advocates, the applicants include children, pregnant women and adults with life-threatening health conditions, who have been delaying treatment or paying cash for health care.<\/p>\n

Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program. This is a public health insurance program which provides needed health care services for low-income individuals including families with children, seniors, persons with disabilities, foster care, pregnant women, and low income people with specific diseases such as tuberculosis, breast cancer or HIV\/AIDS. Medi-Cal is financed equally by the State and federal government.<\/p>\n

According to state officials, about 11 million people receive Medi-Cal benefits in California, including 2.2 million who applied since January, as a result of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which expanded eligibility for the program.<\/p>\n

Who Pays for Health Services Provided by Medi-Cal?<\/h2>\n

For many individuals who enroll in Medi-Cal, there are no premiums, no co-payments, and no out of pocket cost. Some households will see affordable costs, such as a low monthly premium. For some Medi-Cal kids, the premium is only $13 per child.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s Eligible for Medi-Cal?<\/h2>\n

To be eligible, annual income must be 138 percent of the federal poverty level or less (in 2014 that would mean an individual who earned $16,105 or less). For a family of four, annual income must be $32,913 or less.<\/p>\n

Individuals can also get Medi-Cal if they are:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • 65 or older<\/li>\n
  • Blind<\/li>\n
  • Disabled<\/li>\n
  • Under 21<\/li>\n
  • Pregnant<\/li>\n
  • In a skilled nursing or intermediate care home<\/li>\n
  • On refugee status for a limited time, depending how long you have been in the United States<\/li>\n
  • A parent or caretaker relative or a child under 21 if:\n
      \n
    • The child’s parent is deceased or doesn’t live with the child, or<\/li>\n
    • The child’s parent is incapacitated, or<\/li>\n
    • The child’s parent is under employed or unemployed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • Screened for breast and\/or cervical cancer (Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      The lawsuit seeks:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • An order to force the state to meet the processing timeline of 45 days for all Medi-Cal applications.<\/li>\n
      • Approval of new Medi-Cal applications on a temporary basis while the state verifies an applicant\u2019s income<\/li>\n
      • Notification to applicants of their right to an administrative hearing in the event that their application processing extends for longer than 45 days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        If you need health insurance, now is a good time to get a free quote.<\/p>\n

        Do you think Medi-Cal is working? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        California\u2019s infamous government efficiencies have led to a lawsuit filed by health advocates over a huge backlog of Medi-Cal applications. As of September 1, 350,000 applications remained in limbo in the enrollment system \u2013 a system weighed down by computer troubles that have blocked county government attempts to verify patients’ Medi-Cal eligibility, and frustrating the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[306],"tags":[9,160,161,55],"importance":[],"type-content":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11427"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11427"},{"taxonomy":"importance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/importance?post=11427"},{"taxonomy":"type-content","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type-content?post=11427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}