Blue Shield of California will be implementing a new online payment system for their individual and family plan members in 2018. Consumers with off-exchange health plans, those bought directly from Blue Shield and not from Covered California will be transitioned to the new billing system in March … [Read More...]
InsureMeKevin
- Medi-Cal Asset Test Back for 2026The 2026 asset test will be $130,000 and $65,000 for each additional household member. In other words, a single adult with assets over $130,000 will not qualify for Non-MAGI Medi-Cal. A married couple with assets over $195,000 will be ineligible for Non-MAGI Medi-Cal for either individual. The post Medi-Cal Asset Test Back for 2026 appeared […]
- Dr. Oz Injecting Artificial Intelligence into Medicare Health CareUnder the leadership of Dr. Oz, Medicare is rushing to implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) to review, authorize, or deny health care services received by Original Medicare beneficiaries. The primary goal is to save money not necessarily improve patient outcomes. CMS calls the new AI health care initiative “Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model. The […]
- New Trump Rules for Covered CaliforniaThe underlying rational for the new rules is that CMS perceives consumers to be cheating the system. With no evidence presented, CMS believes that consumers are receiving subsidies and health insurance they are not entitled to. They accuse individuals, families, and agents of committing fraud. Again, they present no evidence to support their supposition. The […]
- Covered California Account Access and Documentation ChangesThe Covered California application has been updated to better recognize and process documents related to confirming the identity of the applicant. With just the information on the application (name, address, date of birth, and social security number) the system can now quickly verify the applicant. Covered California has done away with the identity proofing questions. […]
- ICE May Have Medi-Cal Enrollment InformationUpon learning that CMS or the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may have shared personally identifying information with the Department of Homeland Security, the California Department of Health Care Services asked CMS if any individual Medi-Cal member information has been shared. As of June 13, 2025, there has been no response to […]