Accidentally cost myself $7,000 🤦‍♀️

At least. Because I accidentally relinquished the subsidy for my family's coverage.

I wish I had realized this would happen in the moment, but, well, I didn't. Maybe this post will help someone else.

I'm in California. Here's the order of events:

• November 2025: Have a baby, go on maternity leave from my full-time contractor (1099) job. Hence, no income of note, since my husband is a SAHD with a very part-time side gig.
• Start trying to get us all — me, baby, toddler, husband — on Medi-Cal. Takes forever to be evaluated. Seems like it isn't automated? Proof of income requested, but...
• By that time I've been laid off / informed the company doesn't want me back after maternity leave. They give me a $20k severance check.
• Unclear how to explain this to Medi-Cal, impossible to get them on the phone, give up and decide to keep paying for my CoveredCA policy instead. $1,000/month for the three of us (baby automatically eligible for Medi-Cal, idk why) is expensive but could be worse. So I let the proof-of-income requests expire.
• Haha, sucker, now it's worse! Because evidently my lapse of participation in the Medi-Cal evaluation process was interpreted as declining coverage — I think? That's my best guess as to what happened. Sooo my premiums are no longer subsidized. I saw the higher bill from Blue Shield and was like wtf, then figured it out.
• Now it's $1,700/month. While I'm unemployed, after having blown through a big chunk of liquid savings for maternity leave 😭

I'm aware that I fucked this up, probably at multiple steps of the process. Probably applied wrong in the first place, didn't respond to stuff quickly enough, provided the wrong documentation, etc. I bounced from my baby being in the NICU to "failing as a breadwinner" stress.

Also, at no point did I fully understand the system I was trying to navigate. I still don't understand it! It's also impossible to get anyone on the phone because capacity is overwhelmed within 12 seconds of opening every morning, and I'm juggling two little kids.

But it seems likely that I can't fix this until... next open enrollment? Maybe? Guidance welcome.