Pediatrician uses a tongue depressor to examine a young female patient's throat as she sits on her mother's lap

You May Need to Renew Your Medi-Cal Coverage

June 21, 2023

Medi-Cal beneficiaries were protected from losing coverage during the pandemic. This protection is over, so take action now to make sure you are still covered.

To families receiving Medi-Cal: Please watch your mail for a notice from the government that your Medi-Cal coverage will soon be up for renewal. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government passed a law that protected Medicaid plans from being canceled. In California, the law guaranteed that people who received Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, could not lose coverage. However, that law expired March 31, 2023. On April 1, the state started checking eligibility again.

It is important that you make sure Medi-Cal has your correct address so that you receive the renewal notice. If it goes to the wrong address and you don’t submit your renewal, your benefits may be canceled. The federal government thinks this might happen to 7 million Medicaid users across the country. Many of them will still qualify for the program, but may lose their benefits if they don’t respond to the notice. Please don’t let that happen to you.

You have a few ways to make sure Medi-Cal has your correct address:

Call DPSS at 866-613-3777. You can call the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS), or go to your local office in person, and talk to an eligibility worker. They can tell you if your address needs to be updated. The worker can also tell you if you need to submit any documents, such as income verification. If you live in another county, the worker can give you the DPSS number for your area.
Create an account at BenefitsCal. BenefitsCal.com is an online portal that connects you to your Medi-Cal file. Here, you can update your address and take any other steps needed to complete your renewal. You’ll need your case number to access your file. If you don’t have it, DPSS can give it to you.
Contact CHLA. Daniela Tapia Ortega is a Community Health Educator and Medi-Cal assister at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She can help you call DPSS to get your case number. She can also help you create an account at BenefitsCal.com. Tapia Ortega has already assisted many families who reached out to her after receiving a notice that their Medi-Cal plan is up for renewal.

For help, contact Daniela Tapia Ortega.
Phone: 323-646-3134
Email: dtapiaortega@chla.usc.edu
Walk-in help:

Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at CHLA’s AltaMed Clinic
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at CHLA’s Family Resource Center
She also teaches a class called “Understanding Medi-Cal” at the Family Resource Center on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. The class is held in English and Spanish.