Medi-Cal

How to Keep Your Family’s Medi-Cal Benefits

During the pandemic, California and other states didn’t require people to renew their membership Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California.

That changed on April 1, when California began sending out renewal packets once again. Renewals will be sent out in batches, based on the month in which beneficiaries originally applied for Medi-Cal.

Analysis: Day Cares for Medically Fragile Children Are Closing. Here’s How to Save Them

Children who need medically intensive care cannot attend traditional day care programs. California has an option for these kids, called Pediatric Day Health and Respite Care facilities.

But the amount the government pays these facilities to care for children has not kept pace with inflation and rising staffing costs. Because of the stagnant rates, California’s pediatric care facilities are in danger of closing.

Community Workers Fan Out to Persuade Immigrant Seniors to Get Covered

As of October, the most recent month for which data is available, more than 300,000 older immigrant adults who lack legal residency had enrolled in full Medi-Cal benefits, 30 percent more than the state’s original projection.

State health officials, who had based their estimate on the number of people enrolled in a limited form of Medi-Cal that covers only emergency medical services, don’t know how many additional older Californians are eligible.

The Specialist Squeeze: How to Fix the Shortage of Doctors in the Rural North

California’s rural north has significantly worse health care access than the rest of the state.

The barriers to treatment are even higher when residents try to access care from specialist physicians. When patients or families experience difficulties accessing needed medical care, it multiplies existing social needs, increasing patients’ risk of things like substance use, housing uncertainty and domestic violence.

Opinion: Bill to Strengthen Paid Family Leave is Good Medicine 

Paid Family Leave and State Disability Insurance are supposed to prevent low-income Californians from falling into poverty or homelessness when they need to take time off work.

But the program is largely an empty promise for these patients because the benefits replace only 60 percent of income. Two of my patients are among the many Californians caught in this trap.

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