Orange County to Test Medi-Cal ‘Credit Cards’ : Welfare: Program is designed to speed reimbursements and to cut down on fraud. It could be in effect statewide by June.

SANTA ANA — The state will begin issuing Medi-Cal “credit cards” next month to eligible Orange County recipients under a state test program designed to eliminate fraud and accelerate reimbursements.

The new California Benefits Identification Cards will be mailed to most of the 230,000 people in Orange County who are eligible for Medi-Cal health insurance and the almost 42,000 elderly, blind or disabled residents who receive benefits under the federal Supplemental Security Income program. Four other counties also will participate in the pilot program; all of the state’s 5 million Medi-Cal recipients are expected to have the new cards by June.

“It’s a win-win situation every way we look at it, for our clients and for our medical community,” said Angelo Doti, the financial assistance director for the county’s Social Services Agency.

For Medi-Cal clients, Doti said, the plastic card eliminates having to answer questions about eligibility, the waiting period for the paper cards that are reissued every month and the need to return to county offices if benefits run out before the end of the month.

In addition, the credit cards also should accelerate repayment for hospitals, doctors, dentists and pharmacists who often complain that reimbursement is too slow for services they provide to Medi-Cal patients, Doti said. They also will allow quick verification of patients’ eligibility and determination of whether a co-payment is required, he said.

“When a person comes in with (a card) that can be verified easily, the physicians are going to be more likely to accept taking care of that person,” said Dr. Richard Kammerman, a family physician and past president of the Orange County Medical Assn.

Teresa Rackauckas, spokeswoman for the Orange County Medical Assn., said she hasn’t heard any criticism from the medical community about the new program.

“Anything that reduces the administrative hassles is something that will be well-received by physicians,” Rackauckas said.

A magnetic strip on the back of the card--similar to automated teller machine cards--will be run through a machine to link doctors with computer information in Sacramento. The computer also will show if the card has been lost or stolen.

“Right now, (doctors) can only take the client’s word that they are who they are and that they have paid up whatever share of costs they have,” Doti said.

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Currently, clients receive new Medi-Cal cards each month with stickers showing the services for which they are eligible. The stickers are peeled off and sent with the billing to Sacramento. If the stickers expire before the end of the month, the patient must ask the county for more or get them from another Medi-Cal recipient, opening the system to fraud and abuse, Doti said.

Stan Rosenstein of the California Department of Health Services said that in addition to controlling fraud and abuse, the computerized system will give the state access to new information such as “improper or potentially deadly prescription usage.”

Other counties included in the first phase of the Medi-Cal credit card program are Butte, Napa, Santa Clara and Yuba.

Eventually, Doti said, California driver’s licenses or state identification cards will be plugged into the Medi-Cal information network and serve as photo identification cards for adult members of the program.

“This puts the technology foot in the door for future benefit issuances, such as food stamps and (welfare) payments,” Doti said.

A similar pilot program for food stamps will begin late next year in San Bernardino and San Diego counties, and possibly expand to other counties by early 1995.