Didn’t report income change to Covered California. Will I have to pay back my medical bills?

I lost my job in 2022, and had zero income for some of it. I wasn't aware that I had to report income changes for Covered CA, and had thought that because I was approved for 2022 it meant I was covered for the whole year. Had I reported a change, I would have been eligible for Medi-Cal based off my lack of income. Almost all of the providers I saw wouldn't have been covered under Medi-Cal, they were just under the insurance plan I selected.

This was the first time I'd had decent insurance in years, so I had a lot of health issues looked at in the time when I was unemployed. My Covered CA plan was very good with really low co-pays, so it covered most of the cost. Now I'm terrified that I wasn't actually eligible for these services, and that I'll have to pay both a penalty and pay back the full cost of all of my medical bills.

If I have to pay back my original premiums and medical bills, I'm probably looking at $10,000. I have nothing close to this in savings.

Given my failure to report my income change, will I have to pay back all my medical bills since I was technically supposed to be on Medi-Cal, not Covered CA? I can't find any resources on this online, most of the sources I've seen are about underreporting income. I really don't know what to do right now.

submitted by /u/Complex_Virus5195
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