FREE//GRATUITO
PUBLISHED BY ACCIÓN LATINA
March 9-22, 2023
Vol. 53 No. 5
COMMUNITY WORKERS EXPAND REACH TO PERSUADE IMMIGRANT SENIORS TO ENROLL IN MEDI-CAL TRABAJADORES COMUNITARIOS PERSUADEN A INMIGRANTES MAYORES DE BUSCAR COBERTURA MÉDICA Claudia Boyd-Barrett
O
Claudia Boyd-Barrett
California Health Report
AKLAND, Calif. — For three years, Bertha Embriz of San Francisco has gone without health insurance, skipping annual wellness exams and recently tolerating a broken molar by trying not to chew with it. As an immigrant without legal status, the 58-year-old unpaid caregiver knew that California’s Medicaid program was closed to her. That changed in May when California expanded Medi-Cal — its Medicaid program for residents with low incomes — to adults 50 and older, regardless of immigration status. The problem was that Embriz didn’t realize she would be eligible until she attended a community meeting in San Francisco. “I’d heard that they were giving full Medi-Cal to people over 50, but I didn’t know that you didn’t have to be” in the country legally, said Embriz, who is waiting for her application to be processed. “Thank God I haven’t had any emergencies.” As of October, the most recent month for which data is available, more than 300,000 older immigrant adults who lack legal residency had enrolled in full Medi-Cal benefits, 30% more than the state’s original projection. State health officials, who had based their estimate on the number of people enrolled in a limited form of Medi-Cal that covers only emergency medical services, don’t know how many additional older Californians are eligible, said Tony Cava, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health Care Services. Now, some counties have hired a small army of community workers and health educators to enroll as many immigrant seniors as they can find. Workers visit senior centers, churches, English-language classes, immigration offices, markets, and community events, hoping to encounter people like Embriz unaware of their newfound eligibility. In Alameda County, Medi-Cal program specialist Juan Ventanilla said the social services agency is using existing state outreach grants to partner with eight established community organizations to help get the word out about the expansion and help people sign up. Workers, he said, specialize in “assisting the most vulnerable in the county in getting access to health care.” Among those fanning out are Ana Hernandez and Bertha Ortega at Casa CHE, a community health education center in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland that is operated by La Clínica de la Raza. Hernandez and Ortega said most people they meet are eager to enroll in Medi-Cal, butSee MEDI-CAL, page 9
O
(Arriba) Bertha Embriz emigró a los EEUU desde la Ciudad de México hace 30 años. A los 58 años, se enteró de que el estado amplió su programa de Medicaid para residentes de bajos ingresos mayores de 50 años, independientemente de su estatus migratorio. (Top) Bertha Embriz immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico City 30 years ago. At 58, she learned that the state expanded its Medicaid program to low-income residents 50 and older regardless of immigration status. Photos: Ximena Natera for El Tímpano
Un mural en el distrito Fruitvale de Oakland, California, un área predominantemente hispana, donde personal médico bilingüe ha estado tratando de encontrar inmigrantes mayores sin residencia legal que puedan inscribirse en Medi-Cal. A mural in Oakland, California’s Fruitvale district, a predominantly Hispanic area where bilingual healthcare workers have been trying to find older immigrants without legal residency to sign up for Medi-Cal.
Sign up for Medi-Cal
• California low-income residents age 50 or older can apply for fullscope Medi-Cal regardless of immigration status. Here are ways to apply: • Covered California: https://www.coveredca.com. Language translations available at the bottom of the page. By phone, call 800-300-1506 for English and 800-300-0213 for Spanish. Medi-Cal applications in 12 languages are available to print: https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/ services/medi-cal/eligibility/Pages/SingleStreamApps.aspx
Mail completed and signed applications to: Covered California P.O. Box 989725 West Sacramento, CA 95798-9725
• CalWIN: https://www.mybenefitscalwin.org. The website is available to residents in 18 counties, including Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Solano, and Sonoma, to apply for public benefit programs. • To find other county social services agencies: https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/ services/medi-cal/Pages/CountyOffices.aspx
• HealthyAC: https://healthyac.org. For Alameda County residents only. The site includes a list of organizations searchable by ZIP code that can offer application assistance. Call 510-272-3663 to enroll over the phone or to request a mail-in application. • Casa CHE: Operated by La Clínica (https://laclinica.org/), Casa CHE provides health insurance enrollment assistance in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties. Call 855-494-4658 to schedule an appointment.
California Health Report
AKLAND, California - Durante tres años, Bertha Embriz, de San Francisco, ha vivido sin seguro de salud, saltándose revisiones anuales y ahora, evitando masticar de un lado para evitar el dolor de una muela rota. Como inmigrante, esta cuidadora no remunerada de 58 años de edad, sabía que el programa de Medicaid de California no era para ella. Pero eso cambió en mayo, cuando California amplió Medi-Cal, su programa de Medicaid para personas de bajos ingresos, a adultos de 50 años en adelante, independientemente de su estatus migratorio. El problema fue que Embriz no se dio cuenta que podía ser elegible hasta que fue a una reunión comunitaria en San Francisco: “Escuché que estaban dando Medi-Cal a las personas mayores de 50 años, pero no sabía que no tenías que estar” [en el país legalmente], dijo mientras espera a que su solicitud sea procesada. “Gracias a Dios no he tenido emergencias”. Hasta octubre, el mes más reciente para el que hay disponibles datos, más de 300 mil adultos mayores inmigrantes que no tienen residencia legal se habían inscrito en el Medi-Cal completo, un 30% más que la proyección original del estado. Funcionarios estatales de salud, que habían basado su estimado en el número de personas inscritas en una forma limitada de Medi-Cal cuya cobertura es solo para servicios médicos de emergencia, no saben cuántos californianos mayores adicionales son candidatos a recibirla, informó Tony Cava, vocero del Departamento de Servicios de Atención Médica del estado. Ahora, algunos condados han contratado a un pequeño ejército de trabajadores comunitarios y educadores de salud para inscribir a tantos adultos mayores inmigrantes como sea posible. Visitan centros para personas mayores, iglesias, clases de inglés, oficinas de inmigración, mercados y eventos comunitarios, con la esperanza de encontrar a personas como Embriz, que no estén enteradas que son candidatas a recibirla. En el condado de Alameda, Juan Ventanilla, experto en el programa Medi-Cal, dijo que la agencia de servicios sociales está utilizando subvenciones estatales para asociarse con ocho organizaciones comunitarias para ayudar a correr la voz y a las personas a inscribirse. Dijo que los trabajadores se especializan en “ayudar a los más vulnerables del condado a obtener acceso a atención médica”. Entre ellos están Ana Hernández y Bertha Ortega, de Casa Che, un centro de educación de salud comunitaria en el vecindario Fruitvale de Vea COBERTURA MÉDICA, página 9