Covered California enrolled us in Medi-Cal despite high salary. Help!
I am in a family of four (me, husband, and 2 kids, ages 1 and 2). My husband was laid off earlier this year and now is self-employed, earning an income. Our Cobra is expiring and we went to apply for Covered California. He entered a very conservative salary estimate for the year (including unemployment and consulting salary) — somehow the system converted this into an expected annual income of $110,000, which was actually much lower than what he entered.
Because of this income level, our kids were automatically enrolled in Medi-Cal, without giving us the option to select the Blue Shield PPO that we wanted. We were told that it’s because our income level is too low to cover the premiums on the PPO. We have savings and will have no problem paying the PPO premiums. Our pediatrician and my kid’s specialist doctor does not accept Medi-cal, so we desperately want the PPO. Is there anyway to contest this? What income level would put us beyond the threshold for Medi-Cal and allow us to apply for Covered California?
