Covered California
Covered California has updated and changed various parts of their online health insurance enrollment website for 2017. These changes, launched with the release of the CalHEERS 16.9 build, will affect new enrollments and individuals and families renewing their health insurance for 2017. A high level overview was published by Covered California in their 2017 Consumer Renewal Journey & Features Release 16.9. The slides of the presentation are available for download.
2017 Renewal Tool Kit
- Is a series of quick links to documents detailing such items as Consent for Verification, Agent Delegation, and Countable Sources of Income.
Consent for Verification
- If a consumer has not provided Consent for Verification of their citizenship, lawful presence, or if they have filed their 2015 taxes, their Advance Premium Tax Credits may not be renewed for 2017. The consumer may be renewed into a health plan without the monthly subsidy.
Automatic Renewal
- Even if a consumer has been automatically renewed into a health plan for 2017, they can change the enrollment by December 15th for a January 1, 2017 effective date.
- Consumers who do not wish to renew and who have not terminated coverage by October 15th must contact Covered California to opt-out of the 2017 renewal.
Mixed Medi-Cal/Covered California Households
- Families who have dependents in Medi-Cal must make all changes to income and household size with their respective county Medi-Cal office. Agents and CECs cannot make these changes to the enrollment applications.
Shop and Compare Tool
- The Shop and Compare Tool will mirror the plan selection page of the Covered California application.
Medi-Cal Carry Forward
- Consumers who report a change that makes them eligible for Medi-Cal will maintain their Covered California health plan enrollment until their county verifies their eligibility for Medi-Cal as a “Carry Forward Status”.
Medi-Cal for Pregnant Women
- Eligible pregnant Covered California women now have the option to stay or transition into Medi-Cal. A new link in the Actions box of the consumer homepage will allow women to switch their coverage.
Automatic Dis-enrollment
- The Covered California CalHEERS program will automatically discontinue condition enrollment if requested documents are not received. Previously, Covered California had been calling consumers to verify if they had sent documents related to citizenship, lawful presence, incarceration, or death.
Self-Employment Income
- Covered California has updated the Self-Employment page of the Income Section. They have added new questions to help consumers determine their actual net taxable income from self-employment. They will also allow consumers to override the net income calculation if they feel it doesn’t accurately reflect what they think they will earn.
Family Dental Plan
- Family and adult dental plan enrollment has been change to parallel the health plan enrollment. Covered California will passively renew eligible family members into their current dental plan. But they can also, terminate coverage or opt out of dental insurance altogether.
Consent to Share Personally Identifiable Information
- Consumers must either accept or decline consent to receive text and phone message from Covered California regarding their health insurance.
Primary Care Physician
- Consumers in EPO and PPO plans must either select a PCP or one will be assigned to them.
Webinar_Renewal_Consumer_Journey_Feature_Release16.9_9.22.16_Final.pdf
Video of 16.9 Release Presentation
