Introduction
In the face of post-pandemic Medi-Cal disenrollment affecting thousands of children and families across California, The Children’s Partnership teamed up with Mixte to generate news coverage of the crisis, inform families of the Medi-Cal renewal process and equip community partners with resources to facilitate the renewal process. With life-saving healthcare at risk for thousands of Californians, it was crucial to act fast to educate folks about the potential loss of health insurance, the need to renew coverage, and simplify the process for keeping families covered.
Our Objectives
Together, we wanted to bring more awareness to the fact that people with Medi-Cal and communities of color face imminent threats through the Medi-Cal redetermination process, which has led to over 1.6 million disenrollments. Our objectives were twofold:
- Run a months-long campaign that makes it easy for The Children’s Partnership to help families get the information they need to keep their kids covered by Medi-Cal.
- Identify and pitch stories to state and national media that cover health news, politics, government, social justice, and early care and development beats in order to boost coverage of the issue of disenrollment and increase pressure on the governor to prioritize funding for continuous coverage.
The Outcome
Mixte’s work with The Children’s Partnership produced several positive outcomes, including:
- Boosted recognition of The Children’s Partnership as an expert within the media and valuable source of information for community organizations.
- Increased awareness among the general public of the health crisis affecting Californians.
- Higher awareness among families affected by the end of continuous coverage.
- More community allies and legislative partners, including Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner, to help advocate for continuous coverage.
Disenrollment Education and Media Placement – Strategic Media Relations
Mixte developed a plan to lean more fully on media/PR strategies that maintained our North Star firmly pointed in the direction of influencing elected officials and keeping the community and families updated and engaged on the Medi-Cal disenrollment process. As a result, we elevated TCP leadership as subject matter experts on the effects of Medi-Cal continuous coverage ending and leveraged the data collected by TCP to increase awareness.
During 2023 and 2024, the campaign produced more than a dozen news stories about disenrollment in prominent publications such as CalMatters and Newsweek that brought attention to the health crisis and put pressure on lawmakers to ensure funding for continuous coverage remained a priority.
Some media highlights included:
- California Faces Critical Deadline as 300,000 Kids Lose Health Insurance
- They told me I have no coverage’: Californians surprised by loss of Medi-Cal insurance
- Families With Young Children Face Increased Hardship After Pandemic Relief Policies End
- San Diego assemblymember proposes solutions to Medi-Cal eligibility burden
All In to Keep Kids Covered – Community Outreach Toolkit
In total, the All In to Keep Kids Covered toolkit was downloaded 429 times (and counting)! We created this toolkit for schools, child care providers, and other child and family champions to help share timely information about the Medi-Cal renewal process with families.
All In to Keep Kids Covered – Educational Videos
In an effort to increase the power and influence of marginalized voices in policy advocacy, we partnered with Studio Luniste to create videos in five languages featuring community health workers and promotoras educating families about renewing Medi-Cal. The purpose of the video was to ensure families could access the medical care they need and deserve.
Let’s Talk Webinar Series – Event Promotion
In order to keep families and community-based organizations who serve communities informed, TCP organized the Let’s Talk Webinar Series. In support of TCP’s efforts to reach your target audience, Mixte created promotional materials – including social media posts, visual assets and posters – that attracted registrants/attendees to each event.
All In for Health Landing Page – Update Recommendations
We worked with TCP to make the necessary updates to the All In for Health website in order to make the most relevant information the main focus for visitors/users. After the initial updates were made, additional suggestions were made on a monthly basis to ensure the most accurate information was available for families.
