How do you get un-enrolled from Medi-Cal?
We recently moved to CA from NY. I am self-employed, so it’s not so easy to accurately show my current income for the last month or two. My wife was in charge of getting us signed up and somehow she/they calculated my yearly income at like $45k instead of like $65k-$80k and as a consequence, we were auto-enrolled in Medi-Cal. To be honest, it’s pretty terrible, but you can’t complain about something that’s free.
She’s been pulling her hair out trying to get us unenrolled from it, so we can get normal health insurance from an exchange. My limited understanding is that Medi-Cal is fine as secondary insurance and that we may not need to unenroll after all.
Do we need to un-enroll from Medi-Cal and if so, how? They direct you to call and talk to a case manager, but they’re next to impossible to get on the phone without being on hold for hours first. Are there any other methods of contact or different phone numbers to call?
If we’re already on Medi-Cal, are we going to end up paying full price for insurance we buy through an exchange or will we still be eligible for a subsidy based on income? I’m not sure I can afford $2000+ a month, so I hope so.
I’d also be happy to hear any tips on how to best navigate the CA health insurance boondoggle in general. My wife and youngest son are disabled and I’m going to be needing shoulder surgery soon, so I’d like to get the best plan we can afford. I’m not trying to bash Medi-Cal, but it’s totally not going to cut it for us.
