Thousands dropped from Medi-Cal in first eligibility check since the start of the pandemic

New data shows Sacramento County disenrolled 9,650 people from Medi-Cal in June. It was the first time in three years it and all other California counties have checked for eligibility. 

The majority of people who were dropped did not return the renewal packets that were sent to the last address the county had on file. The same is true on the state level. Of the 225,000 California residents who were disenrolled in June, almost 9 in 10 were dropped because they didn’t complete the renewal paperwork. 

“It's extremely troubling,” said David Kane, senior attorney at Western Center on Law and Poverty. “Nobody looked at their cases and said, ‘you’re over income or you no longer qualify.’ They were cut off merely for paperwork reasons.”

As Sacramento County begins the process of dropping people from Medi-Cal, local organizations brace for impact

Kane said many people have changed their addresses in the past three years, and may have never received the packet. Meanwhile, in Sacramento, community health workers say long wait times and a lack of communication from the county make it difficult to help people renew their coverage.

Medi-Cal, California’s low-to-no-cost insurance program for people with very low incomes, is in the first month of a yearlong renewal process. 

Throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency, a federal policy called “continuous coverage” ensured that people could join Medi-Cal but could not be taken off. When the public health emergency ended this spring, counties began checking whether people were still eligible for the first time since 2020. 

In June, about 21% of individuals were discontinued in Sacramento County, which closely tracks with the state average.

Those who were dropped this month will automatically be enrolled in the lowest-cost mid-level plan through Covered California. They’ll be given the option to select another plan, and notified of the selection in writing, according to Roselee Ramirez, with Sacramento county’s Department of Human Assistance.

Though people may have lost coverage on July 1, those who believe they’re still eligible have 90 days to reach out to their county’s Medi-Cal office and get re-enrolled, a stretch known as the “cure period.” If they are re-enrolled, patients would be covered for care received during the gap. The state and county expect thousands to get their coverage reinstated during this period. 

However, getting ahold of Medi-Cal in Sacramento and across the state has proven difficult for many people.

'Never call on a Monday'

The wait time for a phone call to the Sacramento County Medi-Cal service center can be over an hour, said Roshonda Scott, an eligibility coordinator at One Community Health, which operates health centers in Midtown and Arden-Arcade.

Scott said when she called recently with an elderly female client, there were over 90 people ahead of them in line. The client wasn’t able to get through to update her information, and said she’d come back to One Community Health to try again another day. 

Scott said when it seems impossible to get a county representative on the phone, she sometimes bypasses the renewal system entirely, and has the client send in a new Medi-Cal application. She anticipates they’ll be making a lot more calls with clients, and waiting in line for longer as more people seek help renewing their coverage this year. 

Sacramento County says it's working to remedy the delays. Ramirez said the department recently trained up 35 workers to support Medi-Cal and CalFresh. She added that in October, the county is expected to begin using a new system that will provide a callback feature and other self-service options for customers.

Kane says long wait times are a statewide issue, with Los Angeles County reporting an average wait of 45 minutes to get through for Medi-Cal assistance. 

Sacramento community health worker Gloria Torres says the status quo doesn’t work for her clients who only have 30 or 45 minutes to call on their lunch break. 

“God forbid, never call on a Monday,” Torres said. She helps people with Medi-Cal questions at the Maple Neighborhood Center, which is run by the nonprofit La Familia Counseling Center.

“If you can't even get through in an hour? That, to me, is not acceptable,” she said. “They are the county of Sacramento. They have a responsibility to our community.”

The county is expected to release new numbers as part of a state dashboard that will go live on Aug. 7. 

You can update your Medi-Cal information on the state Department of Health Care Services website or using benefitscal.com.