Medi-Cal Managed Care coverage has affected individuals who are mentally ill and seeking treatment. Although the Affordable Care Act regulates Medicaid, there are still not enough providers and treatment facilities covered under this health plan. California has the highest population of Medicaid recipients. Due to the high population, California has a significant advantage financially to cover providers currently out of network. This qualitative data obtained from peer-reviewed journal articles were intended to evaluate and analyze the connection between the Medi-Cal Managed Care expansion and the policies associated with improving provider limitation and lack of coverage. Articles were selected for analysis from four academic databases; CSUB Oviatt Library, JSTOR, Sage Journal, and Elsevier Public Health Emergency Collection. Articles were assigned to one of the following categories: mental health, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. Mental Health article themes included signs, symptoms, treatment, and resources. Medicaid article themes included Medi-Cal Managed Care, population, mental health providers, and cost-containment strategies. The Affordable Care Act article themes included policy information, changes, and implementation. Overall, Medi-Cal Managed Care coverage plays a pivotal role in patients' access to providers and treatment facilities. Policy changes at state and federal government can potentially expand provider coverage and allow access to most treatment centers for mentally ill patients enrolled in Medi-Cal's health plan. The study represents an opportunity to ensure that the Medi-Cal population has access to more network physicians without waiting months to get treated for their condition.

Many Americans believe that people who lack health insurance somehow get the care they really need. Care Without Coverage examines the real consequences for adults who lack health insurance. The study presents findings in the areas of prevention and screening, cancer, chronic illness, hospital-based care, and general health status. The committee looked at the consequences of being uninsured for people suffering from cancer, diabetes, HIV infection and AIDS, heart and kidney disease, mental illness, traumatic injuries, and heart attacks. It focused on the roughly 30 million-one in seven-working-age Americans without health insurance. This group does not include the population over 65 that is covered by Medicare or the nearly 10 million children who are uninsured in this country. The main findings of the report are that working-age Americans without health insurance are more likely to receive too little medical care and receive it too late; be sicker and die sooner; and receive poorer care when they are in the hospital, even for acute situations like a motor vehicle crash.