Monterey County Struggles To Insure Newly Eligible People

Monterey County officials estimate that 11,000 of the county's 23,000 uninsured residents will become eligible for Medi-Cal as early as September through the state's Low-Income Health Program -- which uses federal funds, called the Bridge to Reform, to expand health insurance access before the federal health reform law's Medicaid expansion plan takes full effect in 2014. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program. However, despite the matching federal funds, county officials say they only can afford to insure 1,000 to 1,500 of the eligible residents this year.

• "Low-Income Health Program Will Insure Only a Fraction of Eligible Residents in Monterey County" (Urevich, HealthyCal, 8/9).