Had A Conversation With Covered CA/MediCal Tonight - Very Encouraging [View all]

[stopbush]

I'm trying to apply for the ACA here in CA. I'm currently out of work, so we only have my wife's part-time income coming in. We're basically getting by by cashing in investments if needed.

Because of our low income stream, my application for Obamacare in CA was automatically sent to the MediCal division. My discussions with them ended up with MediCal saying we weren't eligible for MediCal because we have too many assets (you can't have over $3300 in assets to qualify for MediCal).

So, our MediCal app got denied. Called Covered CA today and spoke with Kevin, who informed me that as of January, MediCal is expanding and that they are dropping the "asset test" part of the application. In other words, eligibility will now be based solely on monthly income.

Kevin sent me over to an upper-level MediCal specialist who spent 30 minutes on the phone with me and reopened our MediCal app. All I need do is return some forms he's sending with documentation showing my wife's income, our assets, bank accounts and, well, that's it.

My daughter - who is 16 - will probably qualify for MediCal immediately. My wife, my son and I will probably qualify on 1/1/14 when the MediCal expansion goes live.

Not a bad stop gap until I get a job and we have an income stream that allows us to buy Obamacare. MediCal is free, and it sure beats the COBRA we were on, which covered almost nothing but cost us around $400 a month before it ran out in September. Better some kind of insurance, rather than none.

Another good story about Obamacare!