Need help understanding medi cal

She’s only 3 weeks, I’m struggling to do anything like eat and shower. And this is so overwhelming and confusing. I just want to be able to take her to the doctor

Hey! I chose Gold Coast for mine and my littles insurance. It’s more widley accepted.

If you choose Kaiser you can only go to Kaiser facilities. Gold Coast is accepted everywhere.

First off. Breathe! And congratulations on your new bundle of joy!! There are alot of words that sound and seem scary but that is just what it is! I recently went through this process and mine has taken months with a bunch of other issues but hopefully you wont have to go through that!!

Hey Marisa, your daughter’s insurance may be able to cover the visit so you don’t have to pay. Did you confirm with the pediatrician if they accept medi-cal? If they do they can look baby up with her social if she has received one already. Worst case scenario go in person like you mentioned. I hear it’s harder to get through over the phone. Also, they should send you a booklet with the different insurances to choose from. But definitely go in if you’re passed your 30 days. I work in healthcare, but I’m in Sac county so I’m not familiar with the insurance plans offered in your area. But I always say blue cross is a good one if they offer it.

I am also super confused on whether my baby needs to go on Medi-Cal or get put on my health insurance but mine is thru the marketplace as well. Really lost on what to do.

I already had Kaiser so when she was born, I just think it went on but called to make sure! And I’ve had Kaiser for a few years now, and haven’t had any issues! They are so helpful in the birth process and got a free breast pump! Also congrats!🎉

Congrats! I got on Medi-cal couple weeks after my baby was born. i don't think Medi-cal will pay for it if you didn't have it when baby was born. I'm sure you can do payment plans with the hospital you gave birth at. I signed up for Kaiser Medi-cal because there's a lot of offices in my area. If you call Medi-cal they will explain each one to you!

The doctor you were seeing when pregnant are you still seeing them now as a postpartum mama? If so did they ever give you paperwork on who they would suggest you take your baby girl to for pediatric care? If not make a call from the medical card to find a local pediatrician that is accepting new patients that are in network. Feel free to ask anyone local to you where they like to go that is what I had to do as I am new to my city. Do you have any one on Peanut or facebook to connect with local mamas in your city or town that could suggest different pediatric offices. Everyone has a different opinion but all perspectives are HELPFUL so now that you are a mama and doing life on your own you gotta ask ALL the questions. 😇🙃

Then once you figure out who you plan to go to you need to call the number on the medical card and get with a physical person and ask to make yourself an authorization member so that you can make the decision to change where your baby gets seen. They will say some scary thing but its a written response a part of their job, say you want to be in charge and they should make it happen let them know where she will be seen and a new card will come in the mail with her pediatrician office on the front of the card and she will be covered ☺️ if you dont the state will pick a doctor office that is close to you but you would have to contact that doctors office to setup your appointment and all that stuff. So if you want baby going somewhere specific you gotta make that call. And then since you cant get ahold of your case worker, which is weird to get an invalid number but I am dealing with that myself. I would suggest going into the human services office or HSA that is local to you to get help.

Oh and for the appointments you owe money. Now that baby girl is on medical, call the doctors office billing department and give them your daughters Medi-cal insurance information and it should be covered IF they accept Medi-Cal. If they do not accept medical then sadly you will have to pay but they should be able to work with you to make payments

@Ivi it’s so hard hopefully this post can help you too

Try calling Access at 1-866-262-9881 it's the county line to help with Medi-Cal I used to work there and there should be ableto give you a number for healthcare options so you can pick a provider for example Kaiser, Blue Shield, United ect. And then once you have that you can pick a specific pediatrician, they should have more explanation with healthcare options as far as what your options are depending on the provider you chose.

@Beatriz is Medi-Cal the same as having a provider like Kaiser or Blue shield but at a lower price or less coverage? I don’t exactly know what Medi-Cal is… 😅

@Ivi the way I like to explain it is that Medi-Cal is just who pays, your provider is your choice so Kaiser, Blue Shield, etc and that's the actual doctors you go see.