Couple of Q’s about IEHP vs Molina for Medi-Cal (Riverside)

Thanks to anyone who has replied to my recent posts. I ended up receiving my Medi-Cal plan booklets tonight so I'm able to choose a plan now and get started bridging the gap in my prenatal care (24 weeks along with some complications). That's a pretty big relief, but…

I'm just having some trouble figuring out which plan to elect. I'm in Riverside county, so my options are IEHP 305 (KA KP Cal, LLC) or Molina Healthcare 355 (Health Net Comm Solutions). I know that they're both medi-cal and cover the same basic care. The big difference here is the network they provide, yeah?

My PCP is really inconsequential at this point – what I really need to know is whether, which, and how many OB/GYNs are available to me on each plan, and where I'd end up delivering my baby. I can do a generic search through DHCS, IEHP and Molina's websites but the results aren't personalized since I can't log in until I pick a plan and get my membership info. I get the feeling that I'm seeing only PCPs (or OBs who can function as PCPs) because a PCP is what DHCS wants me to pick while choosing my plan. Because if not, how can it possibly be that IEHP only has 5 OBGYN's to choose from within 70 miles of me and 3 of them are clinics instead of specific doctors? This is really stressful and confusing – I don't want to choose the wrong plan and have no doctors to choose from.

Am I overcomplicating this? Should I just flip a coin and hope it works out? Or is one plan "known" to be better to work with than the other? Will everything clear up once I make a dang choice already?

Also while I'm here, am I limited to doctors within the county I'm applying from? Or once I choose a plan would I be able to see a doctor in another county? Like am I stuck within the boundaries of Riverside or could I potentially be covered in Loma Linda (San Bernardino county)?

Thanks so much in advance to anyone with the patience to help me out. The pregnancy panic is real.

submitted by /u/strivetoresist
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