In Transition: Seniors and Persons with Disabilities Reflect on Their Move to Medi-Cal Managed Care

Beginning in 2011, seniors and persons with disabilities (SPDs) in 16 counties with Medi-Cal fee-for-service were required to choose a managed care plan or be assigned to one. After one year, approximately 240,000 SPDs had made the transition to managed care.Advocates for the affected groups expressed concern about this shift. Many SPDs, burdened with multiple chronic conditions and limited physical or mental capacity, use far more health care services than other Medi-Cal enrollees.In this report, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, present findings from a survey of more than 1,500 SPD Medi-Cal enrollees who made the transition. The goals of this research, supported by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and the California HealthCare Foundation, were to evaluate the enrollee experience and to identify groups of enrollees that would benefit from additional assistance during and after future transitions