Orange County Launches New HMO for Dual Eligibles
CalOPTIMA, which administers Medi-Cal benefits in Orange County, on Sunday launched a new HMO plan called OneCare for residents dually eligible for Medicare and Medi-Cal, the Orange County Register reports (Perkes, Orange County Register, 1/5). The plan will allow dual eligibles to choose a primary care physician to coordinate all their care (California Healthline, 7/26/05).
About 14,000 of Orange County's 55,000 dual eligibles had enrolled in the plan by Sunday, and 30,000 declined to participate in the plan and instead choose their own physicians. About 10,000 dual eligibles in Orange County already belong to a Medicare HMO (Orange County Register, 1/5).