Medi-Cal recipients urged to renew coverage as pandemic provisions end

Changes to the healthcare system for low-income Californians could cause millions of residents to lose coverage.

A pandemic-era provision that prohibited Medi-Cal from dropping anyone with coverage is coming to an end. And that means if those insured through Medi-Cal don’t act now, they could lose their health coverage.

More than 15 million Californians are insured under Medi-Cal. An estimated 2 to 3 million are at risk of losing it.

Starting this month, Medi-Cal participants will begin receiving mail notifying them that they must start the renewal process, which has been on hold for the past three years.

Those who don’t fill out the paperwork updating their personal information, those who have moved out of state, and those whose income has increased pushing them past the income requirement will likely lose coverage.

Those who serve low-income residents at community clinics are concerned people will fall through the cracks.

So if you do nothing, even if you should qualify, you will lose coverage?

“That’s absolutely right,” said Berenice Nunez Constant, AltaMed Health Services.  “And that is exactly why this is so important. We are trying to get the word out so that folks don’t lose that coverage. As you know, these low-income, Medi-Cal-eligible communities are also the ones that were the hardest hit during the pandemic.”

There are two websites that can help those who must renew their coverage:

Those who no longer qualify for Medi-Cal due to a change in income can move over to Covered California.