Watch for the yellow envelope – 15 million CA MediCal enrollees’ eligibility under review

by MARK HEDIN Ethnic Media Services

MEDICAL enrollees are encouraged to update their information to keep their status as the state reviews eligibility for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the first time in three years, an estimated 80 million Americans whose health care is through Medicaid will have their eligibility for it checked.

If you’re one of those people and live in California, keep an eye out for a yellow envelope appearing in your mailbox, state Department of Health Care Services officials said at an April 12 press briefing hosted by Ethnic Media Services and California Black Media.

2020’s Families First Coronavirus Response Act required Medicaid programs nationwide to keep everyone enrolled during the COVID-19 public health emergency, suspending the “redetermination” process.

But with that emergency now considered over as of March 31, states have to confirm everyone’s eligibility again. California’s Medicaid program,

MediCal, is the country’s largest, serving about 15 million people – including 5.7 million children, 70% of them nonwhite. Over the next 14 months, the state will be reviewing accounts to make sure contact information is up to date and that everyone enrolled is still eligible.

The yellow envelopes that began going out earlier this month in the mail indicate that DHCS is requesting additional information. If you get one of those, DHCS Assistant Deputy Director Yingjia Huang said, reply within the deadline it states, usually about 45-60 days.

But people can also check their coverage status online and over the phone.

Huang also estimates that 30% of Medi-Cal recipients will receive notices that they’ve been automatically renewed for a year.

Health care for undocumented immigrants

On top of that, she noted, California has become the first state in the country to allow undocumented 26- to 49-yearolds to enroll in its Medicaid program.

Mayra Alvarez, Executive Director of Children’s Partnership, a national children’s