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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

State Projects Millions Could Lose Medi-Cal as Renewals Start Back Up

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Wednesday, January 18, 2023   

Starting in April, an estimated 2-3 million people could be dropped from Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance program for low-income people.

For three years during COVID, terminations were halted, but Congress recently voted to de-link the program from the Public Health Emergency. So California will have 14 months to re-evaluate eligibility for almost 15 million people.

Tiffany Huyenh-Cho, senior staff attorney for the nonprofit Justice in Aging, said people who do not respond to the renewal packet will lose coverage.

"Lots of individuals might have moved, might have had a change in income or a change in household size, or a new job or lost their job," Huyenh-Cho observed. "It is really important to update contact information such as addresses and phone numbers with the county office."

The state has an ambassador program to educate community health workers on the resumption of renewals and about the unwinding of the public health emergency, which is expected to end sometime this spring.

Huyenh-Cho noted Justice in Aging is also part of the public education campaign to make sure people who meet the income requirements don't fall off the rolls.

"Now, individuals can be terminated from Medi-Cal benefits due to an increase in income or an increase in assets for older adults that are subject to the asset test," Huyenh-Cho explained.

Last year, California increased the limit on assets a single older person can have and still qualify for Medi-Cal, changing the amount from $2,000 to $130,000.

Disclosure: Justice in Aging contributes to our fund for reporting on Civil Rights, Health Issues, Senior Issues, and Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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