2025 Application for Medicaid in the United States California Medicaid, Medicare: Comparison of eligibility criteria and benefits

(III) Others : SSI (Social Security Income) beneficiaries, pregnant women, people with disabilities, nursing home residents, people diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer, etc. You can check here to confirm other types of medical cards

* If you meet the above basic conditions, you can enjoy 100% medical benefits, which means that seeing a doctor, hospitalization and medication are all free*

Medi-Cal application period:

You can apply for Medi-Cal at any time . If you are not sure whether you are eligible, register during Covered California’s Open Enrollment period (November to January each year) and fill in your personal data. The platform system will inform you that you may be eligible for Medi-Cal, or you can consult an insurance broker.

California Medi-Cal application steps:

You can apply online , by mail, or make an appointment with the county social welfare agency. This step is just to fill in the data and submit the application, and the official will review the qualifications. If the review is passed, the county will further notify you in writing or contact you by phone to request more supporting information. After that, you will receive the review results. If you pass, you will get a white card (BIC, Benefits Identification Card). The whole process takes about a month.

Choose a plan:

During the period from the time you receive your BIC after the review, you will temporarily see a doctor in the form of FFS (pay first and then apply for a claim). Soon after, you will receive a brief information sheet asking you to choose an insurance plan, which is usually HMO (for example, San Bernardino County has two options, IEHP and Molina Healthcare, and some counties may not allow you to choose), so you have to choose a PCP (Primary Care Physician). You can check the reviews of these insurance plans online. You must respond to the selection result within 30 days, otherwise the county will just randomly choose one for you.

After you get your new Medicare card, it will have the name of your insurance plan and PCP on it. Then you will receive another insurance card from your insurance plan company. When you make an appointment, remember to ask the clinic whether it accepts Medicare (some clinics do not accept Medicare) . Just bring your Medicare and insurance plan card with you.

In-depth introduction: Medicare

The contents of the Medicare Medicare Plan are similar to those of other health insurance plans, and you also need to pay for deductibles and coinsurance. The plan is divided into four parts, and the most commonly used and discussed are Part A and Part B, which are insured by the government: