Health Care
The Labor Center’s health care research aims to inform federal, state, and local policymaking to improve access to health coverage and make health care more affordable for workers and their families. Our research especially examines policy impacts for California low-income and immigrant working families and communities of color. Many of our publications include projections from the California Simulation of Insurance Markets (CalSIM) model, jointly developed with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Our factsheet for calculating Modified Adjusted Gross Income under the Affordable Care Act is available here.
Health Coverage
Who is and isn’t insured, coverage affordability, job-based health coverage, the ACA, Covered CA, and Medi-Cal.
Health Care Costs
Affordability of coverage and care, underlying cost trends, and solutions.
Immigrants & Health
Access to health coverage for immigrant families, undocumented Californians, and those with DACA.
CalSIM
California Simulation of Insurance Markets model projections, reports, and methodology.
Research & Publications
American Rescue Plan Improvements to Covered California Affordability: Who Gains?
The American Rescue Plan substantially increases premium subsidies for coverage purchased through health insurance exchanges like Covered California. We project that these subsidies will help over 1.6 million Californians, including 151,000 individual market enrollees who will qualify for subsidies for the first time and 135,000 uninsured people who will become insured.
Undocumented Californians Projected to Remain the Largest Group of Uninsured in the State in 2022
Even after the American Rescue Plan (ARP) substantially increases premium subsidies for health insurance coverage purchased through Covered California, large inequities remain in who has access to affordable coverage. Nearly 3.2 million Californians will remain uninsured in 2022, or about 9.5% of the population age 0-64, according to our projections. The highest uninsured rates will be among undocumented Californians (65%) and those eligible only for insurance through Covered California (28%).
Modified Adjusted Gross Income under the Affordable Care Act – UPDATED WITH INFORMATION FOR COVID-19 POLICIES
Under the Affordable Care Act, eligibility for income-based Medicaid and subsidized health insurance through the Marketplaces is calculated using a household’s Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI). The Affordable Care Act definition of MAGI under the Internal Revenue Code and federal Medicaid regulations is shown below.
VIDEO: California Assembly Committee on Health Care Affordability: How to Control Costs in California
Testimony from Assembly hearing on California’s current health care system.
New Series: Affordable Care Act in California: What’s at Stake in California v. Texas?
- October 15, 2020 California could lose 269,000 jobs if the ACA is overturned
- October 15, 2020 Racial and ethnic health coverage inequities in California would widen if ACA is overturned
- October 15, 2020 Overturning the ACA would reverse health coverage gains for low-income Californians
- September 28, 2020 California’s Health Coverage Gains under the Affordable Care Act: What’s at Stake in California v. Texas?
Spotlight
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Blog
April 13, 2021
American Rescue Plan Improvements to Covered California Affordability: Who Gains?
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Blog
April 13, 2021
Undocumented Californians Projected to Remain the Largest Group of Uninsured in the State in 2022
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Testimony
October 30, 2020
VIDEO: California Assembly Committee on Health Care Affordability: How to Control Costs in California
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Report
August 12, 2020
Economic and Health Benefits of a PPE Stockpile
Blog Series on Health Care Affordability
- February 20, 2020 High Health Care Prices are the Primary Driver of California Workers’ Health Care Cost Problems
- January 29, 2020 Increases in health care costs are coming out of workers’ pockets one way or another: The tradeoff between employer premium contributions and wages
- December 18, 2019 High out-of-pocket costs contribute to poor access to care and financial hardships for California workers
Press Coverage
ARP subsidies projected to help over 1.6 million Californians
A recent joint publication by the UC Berkeley Labor Center and UCLA Center for Health Policy Research projected the subsidies passed in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) will help over 1.6 million Californians. This number includes 151,000 individual market enrollees who will qualify for subsidies for the first time and 135,000 uninsured people who will become insured.
Not just $1,400 checks: 5 new health care, FSA, insurance and COBRA savings in the stimulus law
The new stimulus law includes opportunities for you to save money on health insurance, medical expenses and more. Here’s what to know.
Is California ready to open health care to undocumented adults? Latino leaders say yes
A 2018 UC Berkeley Labor Center report shows 1.5 million Californians who lack insurance are undocumented — the “largest group of uninsured Californians.”
No more trash bags. New California law requires hospitals to stockpile COVID protection
Last summer a study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center concluded that PPE shortages caused an estimated 20,000 coronavirus infections among healthcare workers in California.
Next Covid stimulus package may slash COBRA premiums for fired workers
Still, the subsidies may be coming late in the game for many people, said Laurel Lucia, director of the Health Care Program at the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education. “Some workers who lost job-based coverage earlier in the pandemic and already enrolled in Medicaid or marketplace coverage may prefer to stay in that coverage to avoid further coverage transitions,” Lucia said.
Program Contacts
Laurel Lucia
Director, Health Care Program
Ken Jacobs
Labor Center Chair
Miranda Dietz
Research and Policy Associate
Tynan Challenor
Research and Policy Assistant