Getting the health care you need can be hard to navigate, especially for young people in foster care, the caregivers who support them, and people who are pregnant or recently had a baby. Medi-Cal health insurance plans offer a free extra benefit that many families have never heard of. It is called Enhanced Care Management, or ECM, and this fall FosterHope Sacramento is sharing information about it, with support from a grant from The Public Good Projects.
What is Enhanced Care Management?
ECM is free, personalized support through Medi-Cal health insurance plans for people who face extra barriers to their health care. Each person who qualifies gets a personal care manager who helps coordinate their care, both in and outside the doctor’s office. Depending on the person, a care manager can help with things like:
• Coordinating medical, vision and mental health care, and scheduling visits
• Working with foster care support systems, schools and social workers
• Medication management and getting to appointments
• Finding safe, stable housing or job training for former foster youth
• Finding an ob/gyn or a doula during and after pregnancy
• Short-term backup caregiving, for foster children who qualify
Who may qualify?
ECM is available for people with more complex health needs. That includes current and former foster youth up to age 26. A foster child may qualify if they are currently in foster care or were in foster care on or after their 18th birthday. It also includes people who are pregnant or were pregnant in the past 12 months and belong to a group most likely to experience maternal health inequities: Black, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Pacific Islander individuals. Other eligibility requirements may apply, and the person’s Medi-Cal health plan decides.
How to find out
1. Call the phone number on the back of the Medi-Cal health insurance card. If you care for a foster child, use the child’s card.
2. The plan will ask a few questions and explain the next steps.
3. If the person is approved, they are connected to a care manager. Set-up usually takes 10–14 business days after the call, and services can last 12 months before renewal.
It helps to have the Medi-Cal card, a list of current doctors or providers, and a list of concerns that make it hard to get care.