CoveredCA moving QHP enrollees to Medi-Cal without notice??

Hat Tip To: 
Ruth37

This is flat-out wrong and should be stopped/fixed immediately:

A worrisome trend is emerging among some Californians who thought they were safe and secure under Covered California: Their plans are being canceled without consent and sometimes without notice.

...A growing number of Californians with Covered California plans are learning – sometimes through happenstance – that their plans no longer exist. Some, like Manahan, are getting shunted into Medi-Cal. Others are dropped outright.

...Covered California acknowledges that it is yanking some people off of its plans and putting them on Medi-Cal, months after they signed up or submitted income information.

We’re “in the process of manually verifying the documents provided by individuals who were conditionally eligible for obtaining health care coverage through our agency,” says Covered California spokesman James Scullary. “Through that process, some customers will receive notices indicating they are now eligible for no-cost or low-cost Medi-Cal coverage.”

If the people in question did misreport their income info and are supposed to be moved to Medi-Cal instead of receiving a subsidy for a private QHP, fair enough...but they're supposed to receive proper notice first:

By law, health plans can’t cancel coverage without notice, says Rodger Butler, spokesman for thestate Department of Managed Health Care.

But through July, DMHC has received 131 complaints from consumers about cancellations this year.

“If an enrollee has been paying their premium, then their health plan must give them at least a 30-day notice,” he says.

Advertisement