As pandemic-era policies come to an end, tens of thousands of Southern Californians are expected to lose out on Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, come April.
Experts estimate about 330,000 people in Los Angeles County and approximately 160,000 in Orange County will be ineligible for Medi-Cal in April when states resume the redetermination process.
The number of how many will be affected in Riverside County and San Bernardino County is unclear as county health officials did not have official projections. Now, 439,000 households receive Medi-Cal benefits in Riverside County and there are 456,527 people on the government health insurance plan in San Bernadino.
Pre-pandemic, those on Medi-Cal had to re-enroll annually in the state health insurance program for those considered to have low incomes: For a family of four, the annual income would be around $38,000 to qualify for Medi-Cal, and for an individual, that’s approximately $18,000.
However, when lockdown orders went into effect in March 2020, so did an emergency pandemic measure that paused Medi-Cal redeterminations. Members have kept coverage even if they were no longer eligible in the last three years.
According to state documents, 15.2 million people in California are on Medi-Cal, with the Golden State seeing a 16% increase in enrollment since March 2020. And come April, an estimated 2-3 million people across California could lose coverage, according to the Department of Health Care Services.
John Baackes, CEO of L.A. Care Health Plan, the public health agency providing Medi-Cal for low-income Angelenos, said there are about 2.65 million people living in LA County on Medicaid — and enrollment grew during the pandemic.
Enrollments in Orange County also increased.
“When I started, we were about 840,000 members, and we’re now at 954,000,” said Michael Hunn, the chief executive officer of CalOptima Health, who took over operations as head of OC’s agency responsible for providing Medi-Cal…
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