Will New Medi-Cal Number Top 13 Million?

Sun Jan 24 17:33:39 PST 2016

January 7, 2016

<http://www.californiahealthline.org/capitol-desk/2016/1/will-new-medical-nu
mber-top-13-million> California Healthline

By David Gorn

On Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is expected to unveil an up-to-date
Medi-Cal beneficiary number when he issues his 2016-17 budget proposal.

That number likely will top 13 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

The official state figure is 12.8 million, as of September 2015.That figure
represents about one-third of the state's entire population, including more
than half of the state's children.

The state has seen a dramatic bump in Medi-Cal enrollment during Covered
California's open enrollment periods, the most recent of which started Nov.
1, 2015. Often people call Covered California for coverage and then find out
they might qualify for Medi-Cal and are referred there, so the Medi-Cal
ranks grow alongside Covered California. Roughly half a million Californians
enrolled in Medi-Cal during the exchange's second open enrollment period,
from November 2014 to January 2015. 

The current open enrollment period for Covered California runs through the
end of January. So when the governor names a revised Medi-Cal number, even
that higher estimate likely will continue to grow throughout January.

In addition, the Department of Health Care Services estimates about 170,000
undocumented children will be newly eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal
benefits as a result of implementing last year's SB 75 and SB 4 by state
Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens).

DHCS estimates 114,981 undocumented children currently get restricted-scope
Medi-Cal benefits and would be eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal under the
new law, scheduled to go into effect May 1, 2016. Another 55,019
undocumented children currently are not enrolled in Medi-Cal and would be
eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal on May 1.

Jeff Wells
Deputy Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service

Brian Potts MD, MBA
Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service

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