Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Sacramento
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-15-2015, 12:21 PM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
18,813 posts, read 32,634,810 times
Reputation: 38581

Advertisements

If you'll be getting SSI, you'll automatically be signed up for Medi-Cal. I've been happy with it, actually. I've had it in Santa Clara County (the best, but crowded), Shasta County (acceptable and not crowded), and Del Norte County (same as Shasta).

The difference is that different insurance companies cover different counties. In Shasta and Del Norte Counties, the provider is Pacific Health Plan. They require more to get you a referral to a specialist, but it can still be done. Usually, you just have to see your primary care physician a couple of times and then they can refer you.

PHP has added vision coverage so you can get free eye exam and new eyeglasses every 2 years, which is nice.

The downside to Medi-Cal is Denti-Cal. It's nearly impossible to find a provider taking new adult patients. But, CA has a low-income dental plan where you have more options. The best one out of pocket is around $19/month. But, again the providers may not be convenient to where you live, like me. The closest providers that take the low income dental insurance for me, is Redding or Santa Rosa - 5 or 6 hour drives away. This is it:

https://www.caldental.net/individuals/

I'm thinking of paying for this insurance, even if I have to travel to Santa Rosa or Redding. I'll just make a trip out of it.

But, really, I find Medi-Cal to be as good as any other paid insurance plans I've ever had, at least for my needs.

Good luck.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-15-2015, 01:25 PM
 
174 posts, read 222,597 times
Reputation: 74
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe View Post
If you'll be getting SSI, you'll automatically be signed up for Medi-Cal. I've been happy with it, actually. I've had it in Santa Clara County (the best, but crowded), Shasta County (acceptable and not crowded), and Del Norte County (same as Shasta).

The difference is that different insurance companies cover different counties. In Shasta and Del Norte Counties, the provider is Pacific Health Plan. They require more to get you a referral to a specialist, but it can still be done. Usually, you just have to see your primary care physician a couple of times and then they can refer you.

PHP has added vision coverage so you can get free eye exam and new eyeglasses every 2 years, which is nice.

The downside to Medi-Cal is Denti-Cal. It's nearly impossible to find a provider taking new adult patients. But, CA has a low-income dental plan where you have more options. The best one out of pocket is around $19/month. But, again the providers may not be convenient to where you live, like me. The closest providers that take the low income dental insurance for me, is Redding or Santa Rosa - 5 or 6 hour drives away. This is it:

https://www.caldental.net/individuals/

I'm thinking of paying for this insurance, even if I have to travel to Santa Rosa or Redding. I'll just make a trip out of it.

But, really, I find Medi-Cal to be as good as any other paid insurance plans I've ever had, at least for my needs.

Good luck.

Thank you so much for this. It's a huge relief to hear. Are we required to get Denti-Cal? Or pay for it?

Boy do I need vision coverage. I'm actually looking in the crescent city area now. I have a college friend who works at Humboldt State.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-16-2015, 12:19 AM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
18,813 posts, read 32,634,810 times
Reputation: 38581
Quote:
Originally Posted by redhummingbird View Post
Thank you so much for this. It's a huge relief to hear. Are we required to get Denti-Cal? Or pay for it?

Boy do I need vision coverage. I'm actually looking in the crescent city area now. I have a college friend who works at Humboldt State.
Denti Cal is free and when you get Medi-Cal, you are automatically signed up for Denti-Cal.

After your thread, I decided today to go ahead and sign up for the California Dental Network through the link I posted. I think it's a good deal for the price. I signed up for a clinic in Santa Rosa. She was helpful when I called. She said that they will also take Denti-Cal, but that the California Dental Network insurance is better. What they do is let you decide which is your primary insurance, then the other would be your secondary if the primary doesn't cover something. So, I made the California Dental Network my primary, but I have Denti-Cal as my backup now.

They're still booked out until March for new patients. I'm hoping once I'm a patient that I could get in sooner if I had a problem. Fortunately, I don't have a problem right now.

I'll just plan on making it a mini-vacation. There's a KOA campground in Petaluma, near Santa Rosa and they also have cabins. If I don't have my camper on my truck yet, I'll just stay in a cabin and take my dog and check out the parks, etc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-16-2015, 10:22 AM
 
174 posts, read 222,597 times
Reputation: 74
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe View Post
Denti Cal is free and when you get Medi-Cal, you are automatically signed up for Denti-Cal.

After your thread, I decided today to go ahead and sign up for the California Dental Network through the link I posted. I think it's a good deal for the price. I signed up for a clinic in Santa Rosa. She was helpful when I called. She said that they will also take Denti-Cal, but that the California Dental Network insurance is better. What they do is let you decide which is your primary insurance, then the other would be your secondary if the primary doesn't cover something. So, I made the California Dental Network my primary, but I have Denti-Cal as my backup now.

They're still booked out until March for new patients. I'm hoping once I'm a patient that I could get in sooner if I had a problem. Fortunately, I don't have a problem right now.

I'll just plan on making it a mini-vacation. There's a KOA campground in Petaluma, near Santa Rosa and they also have cabins. If I don't have my camper on my truck yet, I'll just stay in a cabin and take my dog and check out the parks, etc.

This is still all so new to me. There is so much to learn! I love the Santa Rosa area. I did my post-doc at a large hospital up there.

I don't know if Cloverdale is closer than Petaluma but I had stayed at one of the cabins at the KOA campground. It was great.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-16-2015, 11:17 AM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
18,813 posts, read 32,634,810 times
Reputation: 38581
You know, since you like Santa Rosa, you might want to check this place out. I looked into moving there, but ended up here because I thought it would be too hard to take my dog out using the elevator and being downtown.

Anyway, it's a Section 8 based project - a converted old hotel downtown. When you move in, you pay Section 8 prices for rent and after you've been there a year, you can transfer your Section 8 somewhere else. I don't think their waiting list is too long. The manager was really nice over the phone. I never went to see it in person.

http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/doclib/Do...pplication.pdf

http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/departmen.../Openings.aspx

Then, you'd also have plenty of health care and dental right there.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-18-2015, 11:49 AM
 
174 posts, read 222,597 times
Reputation: 74
Thank you for this NoMoreSnowForMe! The medical care in that area is really good. I'm going to print the application and send it in.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2022 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Sacramento

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top