LOS ANGELES – As many as 200,000 Medi-Cal recipients, mostly non-English speakers, will be shocked to learn they could lose their health care benefits by the end of this month.
In Los Angeles County, close to 100,000 families with Medi-Cal will get termination notices before Thanksgiving. The notices will be the first of several waves of terminations by the state, which is moving to push people off Medi-Cal because they didn’t complete renewal forms.
Waves of cancellation notices already received in some parts of California are the result of both delays by the Department of Health Services in sending out renewal notices, and its failure to translate the new application forms into languages spoken by many Medi-Cal recipients, according to legal advocates.
“In regard to the renewals, we began the annual renewal process for 2014 in June, following a six-month delay,” said Anthony Cava, spokesman for the Department of Health Services. “From June through October 2014, about 5 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries were sent renewal packets seeking information needed to continue their coverage.
“Beneficiaries who fail to respond are sent a discontinuance notice. It informs them that they have up to 90 days to submit the required information so that their coverage will continue.”
Many of those being terminated had no idea they had to complete the renewal forms, due to the state’s lateness. In addition, the delayed forms were incomprehensible for recipients who were used to getting the forms in their language. Over 40 percent of Medi-Cal beneficiaries identify with a primary language other than English.
“It’s a serious language access issue,” said Doreena Wong, Director of the Health Access Project at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles. “The State is obligated to provide language access services to these communities.”
Some of the languages where form translations are required by law include Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Hmong, Cambodian, Arabic, and Farsi.
“State officials are moving forward with the terminations, even though they know many of these recipients remain eligible for Medi-Cal,” said Cori Racela, an attorney with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County (NLS). “The sheer number of imminent terminations threatens to undermine the progress we’ve made expanding benefits under Obamacare.”
“I think it’s so frustrating for so many people, because so much attention is being placed on the new beneficiaries. I don’t think the state is giving enough attention to the existing population already on Medi-Cal,” Racela continued.
Longstanding state and federal laws clearly state that California cannot cut Medi-Cal benefits without first determining a recipient is no longer eligible.
As a result, NLS and Advancing Justice – LA, along with other legal groups, have sued the state on Monday to halt the sudden and unfair terminations. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of many community nonprofits that help people with limited English-proficiency understand and access their health benefits.
In order to prevent eligible beneficiaries from losing their Medi-Cal benefits during implementation of the Affordable Care Act—also known as Obamacare—Congress and the California Legislature supplemented those laws with other protections.
Recognizing the need for time to develop a fair and equitable process for beneficiaries to renew, the state and counties have postponed the renewal process for many months, Advancing Justice – LA officials said. However, this has left recipients thinking they did not need to take any action in order to keep their insurance. Together with the state’s failure to translate forms and provide timely and adequate services, record low Medi-Cal renewals—some as low as 50 percent—have occurred as a direct result.
The state’s termination notices also do not include required information about the 90-day grace period window allowing regular recipients to restore their health benefits.
“Our position is [the state] didn’t follow the rules and procedures for people to participate in renewals so that they could continue their Medi-Cal,” said Claudia Menjivar, an attorney with the Western Center on Law and Poverty. “These benefits are the difference between life and death for so many people.”
Some organizations that assist people in renewing their coverage are feeling “overwhelmed by all the questions,” according to Advancing Justice – LA.
“Californians who do not speak or read English still have a right to understand their Medi-Cal information fully and completely. Cutting off people’s insurance without first making sure they understand their rights is not only illegal, but also harmful to individuals and families who need critical medical services,” said Helen Tran, an NLS attorney.
“Many of our partners who work with limited English proficient populations…experienced cultural and linguistic barriers when accessing health services,” said Joann Lee, Directing Attorney at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. “In light of these reports, we call on the State to do its duty to translate Medi-Cal renewal packets and termination notices into different languages.”
The court did not grant an emergency order to halt the terminations, but the issue will be heard by a judge on December 9. People who receive Medi-Cal termination notices and need language-specific assistance can contact their local legal aid program at (888)-804-3536.
(With reports from Los Angeles Daily News, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – LA)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend November 22-25, 2014 Sec. A pg.1)
