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Action Required: Medi-Cal Renewal Process Is Underway Across California

Californians enrolled in Medi-Cal should keep an eye out for a yellow envelope in their mailbox over the next 14 months. The Medi-Cal eligibility of over 15.4 million Golden State residents is under review for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

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If a Medi-Cal beneficiary does receive the yellow envelope, they must provide their current contact information to health care officials as soon as possible to retain their Medi-Cal coverage, noted California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Assistant Deputy Director Yingjia Huang.
If a Medi-Cal beneficiary does receive the yellow envelope, they must provide their current contact information to health care officials as soon as possible to retain their Medi-Cal coverage, noted California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Assistant Deputy Director Yingjia Huang.

McKenzie Jackson
California Black Media

Californians enrolled in Medi-Cal should keep an eye out for a yellow envelope in their mailbox over the next 14 months.

The Medi-Cal eligibility of over 15.4 million Golden State residents is under review for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

If a Medi-Cal beneficiary does receive the yellow envelope, they must provide their current contact information to health care officials as soon as possible to retain their Medi-Cal coverage, noted California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Assistant Deputy Director Yingjia Huang.

“It is critical that they do it by the due date that is on the packet that will come,” she said. “If that is not completed by the due date, there is a possibility that you will lose your coverage from Medi-Cal.”

Huang was one of several speakers featured during an April 12 online media briefing held to notify Medi-Cal members of the health coverage eligibility check, which began on April 1. The media teleconference was organized by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services in partnership with DHCS.

Medi-Cal is California’s version of Medicaid, the federal government-funded health insurance program. Administered in conjunction with states, Medicaid is designed for people with limited incomes. The insurance covers services such as dental care, prescriptions, and medical and preventive care.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, enacted in 2020, directed Medicaid programs nationally to keep everyone enrolled during the pandemic. The annual redetermination process was suspended due to the severity of the worldwide health emergency. However, federal agencies declared the emergency over last month. So now, 80 million Americans are in the process of having their Medicaid eligibility checked by their states’ health department.

According to DHCS figures, 1,066,215 African Americans in California have Medi-Cal. Over 2.6 million whites are enrolled in the program, as are 7.4 million Latinos. Over 2.8 million people who did not provide a race or ethnicity are insured by Medi-Cal and the number of Asian/Pacific Islanders enrolled is over 1.4 million. By ethnicity, people of American Indian/Alaskan Native descent account for the lowest number of enrollees at 55,851.

Children’s Partnership Executive Director Mayra Alvarez said during the online call that it is important for Medi-Cal eligible families to keep coverage.

“As we come out of this public health emergency, health insurance coverage and access to care is essential for everyone to be healthy and thrive,” she explained. “Particularly during this pandemic, which has also exacerbated mental health issues for children and youth across the state.”

Alvarez said most of Medi-Cal enrollees are people of color, and nearly 70% of the 5.7 million children that use the service are minorities.

“It is a lifeline for so many in our communities, and it’s a program that continues to be available for the millions enrolled,” she stated. “Even before the pandemic, long standing, structurally racist policies and practices have created an environment wherein families of color experience significantly greater degrees of instability. Instability in employment; instability in income; instability in housing. These economic and housing conditions actually heighten the risk of disruptions in health coverage and in doing so, eliminates the security that comes with having health insurance coverage.”

The packets inside the yellow envelopes Medi-Cal members will receive ask for personal information, including their current phone number, email address, and street address. Recipients must reply by the deadline, which is typically between 45 to 60 days after getting the packet in the mail. For example, packets mailed this month have a June 30 due date and packets sent in May must be returned by July 31. The Medi-Cal account holders can provide that info by mail, online, or by calling their county’s Medi-Cal office.

“The easiest way to actually do this is online,” Huang remarked.

Medi-Cal members all have different medical renewal months. Around 30% will be automatically renewed. Those people will get a letter in the mail acknowledging that.

Also, addressed during the briefing were the steps involved in redetermining a person’s eligibility and how to get information in 19 different languages.

Between two million to three million Californians will lose the health service, while others will become eligible for the first time.

Workers hired to jobs that provide health benefits and people who earn enough income to be shifted from the health coverage to Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange, are among those predicted to lose Medi-Cal.

Huang said the switch from Medi-Cal to Covered California can be automatic.

“It all goes back to the member must have the most updated information with the county Medi-Cal office for that process to happen,” she said.

The Medi-Cal packets are sent to the last known address of beneficiaries. Recipients whose name, phone number, email address or mailing address have changed in the last three years need to update that information at Covered California, BenefitsCal, or My Benefits CalWIN.

Medi-Cal coverage, Alvarez said, can continue for everyone who is eligible.

“Now is the time to make sure we are taking the necessary steps to keep our coverage,” she noted. “This is especially important for people of color, who are more likely to rely on Medi-Cal for coverage and who are more likely to be at risk of losing that coverage.”

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 16 – 22, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 16 – 22, 2025

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UPDATE: PepsiCo Meets with Sharpton Over DEI Rollbacks, Future Action Pending

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The more than hour-long meeting included PepsiCo Chairman Ramon Laguarta and Steven Williams, CEO of PepsiCo North America, and was held within the 21-day window Sharpton had given the company to respond.

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By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

Rev. Al Sharpton met Tuesday morning with PepsiCo leadership at the company’s global headquarters in Purchase, New York, following sharp criticism of the food and beverage giant’s decision to scale back nearly $500 million in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The more than hour-long meeting included PepsiCo Chairman Ramon Laguarta and Steven Williams, CEO of PepsiCo North America, and was held within the 21-day window Sharpton had given the company to respond. Sharpton was joined by members of the National Action Network (NAN), the civil rights organization he founded and leads. “It was a constructive conversation,” Sharpton said after the meeting. “We agreed to follow up meetings within the next few days. After that continued dialogue, NAN Chairman Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson and I, both former members of the company’s African American Advisory Board, will make a final determination and recommendation to the organization on what we will do around PepsiCo moving forward, as we continue to deal with a broader swath of corporations with whom we will either boycott or buy-cott.”

Sharpton initially raised concerns in an April 4 letter to Laguarta, accusing the company of abandoning its equity commitments and threatening a boycott if PepsiCo did not meet within three weeks. PepsiCo announced in February that it would no longer maintain specific goals for minority representation in its management or among its suppliers — a move that drew criticism from civil rights advocates. “You have walked away from equity,” Sharpton wrote at the time, pointing to the dismantling of hiring goals and community partnerships as clear signs that “political pressure has outweighed principle.” PepsiCo did not issue a statement following Tuesday’s meeting. The company joins a growing list of major corporations — including Walmart and Target — that have scaled back internal DEI efforts since President Donald Trump returned to office. Trump has eliminated DEI programs from the federal government and warned public schools to do the same or risk losing federal funding. Sharpton has vowed to hold companies accountable. In January, he led a “buy-cott” at Costco to applaud the retailer’s ongoing DEI efforts and announced that NAN would identify two corporations to boycott within 90 days if they failed to uphold equity commitments. “That is the only viable tool that I see at this time, which is why we’ve rewarded those that stood with us,” Sharpton said.

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Target Reels from Boycotts, Employee Revolt, and Massive Losses as Activists Plot Next Moves

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Target is spiraling as consumer boycotts intensify, workers push to unionize, and the company faces mounting financial losses following its rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

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By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

Target is spiraling as consumer boycotts intensify, workers push to unionize, and the company faces mounting financial losses following its rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. With foot traffic plummeting, stock prices at a five-year low, and employee discontent boiling over, national civil rights leaders and grassroots organizers are vowing to escalate pressure in the weeks ahead. Led by Georgia pastor Rev. Jamal Bryant, a 40-day “Targetfast” aligned with the Lenten season continues to gain traction. “This is about holding companies accountable for abandoning progress,” Bryant said, as the campaign encourages consumers to shop elsewhere. Groups like the NAACP, the National Newspaper Publishers Association, and The People’s Union USA are amplifying the effort, organizing mass boycotts and strategic buying initiatives to target what they call corporate surrender to bigotry.

Meanwhile, Target’s workforce is in an open revolt. On Reddit, self-identified employees described mass resignations, frustration with meager pay raises, and growing calls to unionize. “We’ve had six people give their two-week notices,” one worker wrote. “A rogue team member gathered us in the back room and started talking about forming a union.” Others echoed the sentiment, with users posting messages like, “We’ve been talking about forming a union at my store too,” and “Good on them for trying to organize—it needs to happen.” Target’s problems aren’t just anecdotal. The numbers reflect a company in crisis. The retail giant has logged 10 straight weeks of falling in-store traffic. In February, foot traffic dropped 9% year-over-year, including a 9.5% plunge on February 28 during the 24-hour “economic blackout” boycott organized by The People’s Union USA. March saw a 6.5% decline compared to the previous year. Operating income fell 21% in the most recent quarter, and the company’s stock (TGT) opened at just $94 on April 14, down from $142 in January before the DEI cuts and subsequent backlash. The economic backlash is growing louder online, too.

“We are still boycotting Target due to them bending to bigotry by eroding their DEI programs,” posted the activist group We Are Somebody on April 14. “Target stock has gone down, and their projections remain flat. DEI was good for business. Do the right thing.” Former congresswoman Nina Turner, a senior fellow at The New School’s Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, wrote, “Boycotts are effective. Boycotts must have a demand. We will continue to boycott until our demands are met.” More action is on the horizon. Another Target boycott is scheduled for June 3–9, part of a broader campaign targeting corporations that have abandoned DEI initiatives under pressure from right-wing politics and recent executive orders by President Donald Trump. The People’s Union USA, which led the February 28 boycott, has already launched similar weeklong actions against Walmart and announced upcoming boycotts of Amazon (May 6–12), Walmart again (May 20–26), and McDonald’s (June 24–30). The organization’s founder, John Schwarz, said the goal is nothing short of shifting the economic power balance.

“We are going to remind them who has the power,” Schwarz said. “For one day, we turn it off. For one day, we shut it down. For one day, we remind them that this country does not belong to the elite, it belongs to the people.” As for Target, its top executives continue to downplay the damage. During a recent earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Jim Lee described the outlook for 2025 as uncertain, citing the “ripple” effects of tariffs and a wide range of possible outcomes. “We’re going to be focusing on controlling what we can control,” Lee said. But discontent is spreading internally. A Reddit post from a worker claimed, “The HR rep is doing his best to stop the bleeding, but all he did was put a Bluey band-aid on what is essentially a severed limb.”

Several employees criticized the company’s internal rewards system, “Bullseye Bucks,” for offering what amounts to play money. “Can’t pay rent or buy food with Bullseye Bucks,” one wrote. Others urged their colleagues to join unionizing efforts. “Imagine how much Target would lose their mind if they were under a union contract,” one team leader wrote. “It needs to happen at this point.” One former manager said they left the company after an insulting raise. “Quit last year when they gave me a 28-cent raise. Best decision I’ve ever made.” From store floors to boardrooms, the pressure is growing on Target. And as calls for justice, equity, and worker rights get louder, one worker put it plainly: “We’re all screwed—unless we fight back.”

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