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Bill (AB 2956) introduced to stop Medi-Cal disenrollments in California
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The Protecting Medi-Cal Coverage for Californians Act will help millions of low-income Californians keep their Medi-Cal coverage
(Sacramento, CA) March 12, 2024 – Assemblymember Tasha Boerner (D-Encinitas) has introduced the Protecting Medi-Cal Coverage for Californians Act, AB 2956, which would allow adults enrolled in Medi-Cal to keep their coverage for a full 12 months and make the federal pandemic-era flexibilities permanent, to decrease the number of ongoing Medi-Cal disenrollments Californians are experiencing.
As of April 2023, California restarted the process of reviewing and renewing Medi-Cal eligibility for those enrolled for the first time since Medi-Cal renewals were paused in March 2020, referred to as Medi-Cal “unwinding.”
“Even relatively short gaps in Medi-Cal coverage can mean the difference between getting the crucial care children and their families need to lead healthy lives and falling dangerously behind on preventive care.“
Mayra E. Alvarez, president of The Children’s Partnership
Over a million individuals have lost their Medi-Cal coverage in the first six months of this unwinding period. Without the protections of temporary unwinding flexibilities, the overwhelming majority (92%) of Medi-Cal disenrollments have been for procedural or ‘paperwork’ reasons, meaning they are disenrolled by no fault of their own, even when they are likely still eligible. Of these, children and youth account for roughly one-third of all disenrollments in California.
Some critical unwinding flexibilities include allowing counties to auto-verify income for people who have only stable sources of income, accepting self-attested income during renewals, and allowing for automatic renewals to be processed without requiring renewal packets to be returned. However, the federal flexibilities are scheduled to sunset in December 2024.
“It is unacceptable that hundreds of thousands of Californians are experiencing gaps in healthcare coverage due to Medi-Cal’s current re-enrollment process. According to the California Department of Health Care Services, 200,000 Californians were dropped from Medi-Cal in September 2023 for lacking the necessary paperwork, despite still being eligible. I am proud to collaborate with the Western Center on Law and Poverty, The Children’s Partnership, and the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, sponsors of AB 2956, to reduce unnecessary barriers to crucial health services due to administrative red tape.”
Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, bill author
Current Medi-Cal redetermination data shows that Californians 65 and older, those with disabilities, and non-senior adults are being disenrolled at disproportionately high rates.
Similarly, there is existing data showing reduced automatic renewals for individuals for whom Spanish is their primary language, people with disabilities, and older adults.
Furthermore, research on racial patterns in economic security has shown that nationwide, Black households experience disproportionately high levels of income volatility and lower levels of wealth.
This bill would not only help low-income, BIPOC Medi-Cal enrollees to keep their coverage but would greatly benefit seniors and individuals with disabilities who are on fixed incomes.
Permanently adopting these changes via the Protecting Medi-Cal Coverage for Californians Act will help millions of low-income Californians keep their Medi-Cal coverage without having to face burdensome administrative barriers by simplifying income verification requirements, increasing automatic Medi-Cal renewals, and improving program outreach and customer service.
We expect this bill would have several long-term impacts, including:
- An increase in the percentage of automatic (“ex-parte”) renewals.
- Increased physical and financial resiliency resulting from better health outcomes, increased patient comfort and safety, and reduced medical debt.
- Reduce reliance on emergency room visits due to people having greater access to preventive and ongoing care.
- Improvements to county workflows and reduced workloads for renewal processing.
The bill is co-sponsored by the Western Center for Law and Poverty (WCLP), The Children’s Partnership (TCP), and The Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC),
“Since Medi-Cal redeterminations began nearly a year ago, 1.3 million low-income Californians, including 267,000 children, have lost Medi-Cal coverage, through no fault of their own. The vast majority of disenrollments are the result of procedural reasons, not eligibility – placing children at risk of losing coverage due to barriers like submitted renewal forms not being received and long call wait times to get questions answered. Even relatively short gaps in Medi-Cal coverage can mean the difference between getting the crucial care children and their families need to lead healthy lives and falling dangerously behind on preventive care. Ensuring all families, especially our BIPOC communities that are more likely to rely on Medi-Cal, get the care they need to thrive is a step in the right direction toward building a more equitable health care system in California.”
Mayra E. Alvarez, president of The Children’s Partnership
“AB 2956 is about justice. The health of Latinos is in a fragile state, our community is still facing acute cases of COVID-19, long-COVID and the socio-economic repercussions of the pandemic. This means that now more than ever, Medi-Cal coverage is essential to our wellbeing. Unfortunately, in the wake of post-pandemic public health emergency flexibilities, Medi-Cal redetermination disenrollments have disproportionately affected Latinos. In 2023, of those who were disenrolled 49.5% were Latino, that is 613,280 Latine community members who lost life-saving coverage. We find ourselves at a unique nexus of time. California has led the nation in expanding access to Medi-Cal for ALL, regardless of immigration status. And these disenrollments are an antithesis to the decades of hard work we, as a state, have put in. To truly reach health equity for all Californians, we have to ensure that there are intentional processes that take into account the realities that our communities are facing. AB2956 aims to provide a sense of assurance and stability to Californians, offering them peace of mind as we navigate these critical challenges.”
Dr. Seciah Aquino, executive director of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
“The pandemic put a spotlight on the cracks in our Medi-Cal system, and the state responded with temporary, innovative fixes that worked. In the main, these fixes eliminated burdensome administrative barriers to access and stabilized the system. This bill gives us an opportunity to make these changes permanent, and we should. Medi-Cal is an important source of healthcare coverage in this state; nearly two out of every five Californians rely on it, and now is the time to see that our most vulnerable Californians continue to keep their coverage.”
Whitney Francis, Peter Harbage Fellow, Western Center for Law and Poverty
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Assemblymember Tasha Boerner represents the 77th District, which encompasses Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, and the coastal communities of La Jolla south to Downtown and Coronado. You can learn more about Assemblymember Boerner at a77.asmdc.org.
The Children’s Partnership is a California advocacy organization advancing child health equity through research, policy, and community engagement. For 30 years, TCP has championed policies that help create a California where all children have the resources and opportunities they need to be healthy and thrive.
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC)— is the leading statewide policy organization with a specific emphasis on Latine health. For over 30 years, LCHC has worked on transforming systems to achieve Latinx health justice. We pride ourselves in translating community solutions into equitable policy and lasting systemic change.
Through the lens of economic and racial justice, Western Center on Law & Poverty litigates, educates, and advocates in courts, cities, counties, the State Capital, and the public arena to secure just housing, health care, economy, and legal systems for Californians with low incomes.
