Comments on Rule Proposed by the Internal Revenue Service on Affordability of Employer Coverage for Family Members of Employees
Comment submitted to the Internal Revenue Service on proposed regulation that would address the ACA “Family Glitch.”
Health Coverage
The Labor Center’s health coverage research examines which Californians have which type of insurance, who is left out of our coverage system and why, and the affordability of insurance and care. We have analyzed these outcomes under current and proposed policies including the Affordable Care Act, state policies to expand coverage and improve affordability, and policies that threatened to erode coverage.
Research & Publications
Fact Sheet: Fixing the Family Glitch in California — Projections from the California Simulation of Insurance Markets
Proposed federal regulations would fix the family glitch by extending subsidies to spouses and children offered unaffordable family coverage through an employer. The employee would still be excluded from subsidies if their cost for single coverage through their employer was affordable. We use the California Simulations of Insurance Markets (CalSIM) model to project for 2023 how many people would fall into the family glitch in California, how many would be newly eligible for a positive dollar subsidy, and how many would enroll in Covered California with subsidies under the family glitch fix.
How will Californians’ health coverage sources change when the public health emergency ends?
The Medi-Cal redetermination process has been paused during the COVID public health emergency. As a result, many more individuals have newly enrolled in Medi-Cal than disenrolled, increasing Medi-Cal enrollment by almost 2 million since the beginning of the pandemic. This blog post summarizes (1) the available estimates of the potential reduction in Medi-Cal enrollment once the PHE is unwound and redeterminations have been completed, and (2) the likely eligibility for and enrollment in private coverage among those losing Medi-Cal.
April 14, 2022 -
Miranda Dietz,
Laurel Lucia,
Srikanth Kadiyala,
Tynan Challenor,
Annie Rak,
Dylan H. Robyand
Gerald F. Kominski
California’s biggest coverage expansion since the ACA: Extending Medi-Cal to all low-income adults
California has the opportunity to expand Medi-Cal to all low-income Californians, regardless of immigration status or age. This policy would result in a massive increase in coverage, bringing close to 700,000 undocumented Californians into coverage and reducing the uninsured rate for residents under 65 to just 7.1%, the biggest single improvement since implementation of the ACA.
April 14, 2022 -
Miranda Dietz,
Srikanth Kadiyala,
Tynan Challenor,
Annie Rak,
Laurel Lucia,
Dylan H. Robyand
Gerald F. Kominski
The Threat to Coverage and Affordability Gains in Covered California if Congress Fails to Renew Subsidy Enhancements
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress enacted the American Rescue Plan of 2021 to provide additional temporary financial help for buying health insurance through the ACA Marketplaces. If these enhanced subsidies are not extended for 2023 and beyond, we project 220,000 fewer Californians would have individual market insurance in 2023 than if enhanced subsidies are extended, and premiums would be less affordable for more than two million individual market enrollees.
April 14, 2022 -
RELEASE: Health coverage for nearly 1M Californians will be affected by Medi-Cal expansion and federal subsidies extension
Two reports released today project how the expansion of Medi-Cal eligibility to all low-income adults regardless of immigration status and the discontinuation of enhanced federal subsidies in Covered California would affect health coverage for nearly one million Californians
May 4, 2021 -
Laurel Lucia
Proposed Office of Health Care Affordability: An important step towards addressing the health care cost problem for California workers
This blog post focuses on one policy idea currently being considered by state policymakers to address rising health care costs – creating an Office of Health Care Affordability.
April 13, 2021 -
Miranda Dietz,
Srikanth Kadiyala,
Tynan Challenor,
Annie Rak,
Dylan H. Roby,
Laurel Luciaand
Gerald F. Kominski
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.
April 13, 2021 -
Miranda Dietz,
Laurel Lucia,
Srikanth Kadiyala,
Tynan Challenor,
Annie Rak,
Dylan H. Robyand
Gerald F. Kominski
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%).
March 23, 2021 -
Laurel Lucia
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.
October 30, 2020 -
Laurel Lucia
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.
October 15, 2020 -
UC Berkeley Labor Center
Affordable Care Act in California: What’s at Stake in California v. Texas?
On November 10, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case California v. Texas, one possible outcome of which is the Affordable Care Act (ACA) being struck down in its entirety. The Labor Center has produced several publications exploring the potential consequences for California if the ACA is overturned.
October 15, 2020 -
Laurel Lucia,
Miranda Dietz,
Srikanth Kadiyala,
Tynan Challenorand
Gerald F. Kominski
Racial and ethnic health coverage inequities in California would widen if ACA is overturned
The ACA covered millions of people and reduced the racial and ethnic disparities in health coverage in California; to take away these coverage options especially during a global pandemic and recession would exacerbate racial and ethnic inequality in California.
Overturning the ACA would reverse health coverage gains for low-income Californians
The ACA expanded coverage options available to low-income Californians and unemployed workers; to take away those options during a global pandemic and recession would compound the hardships faced by low-income households.
October 15, 2020 -
Laurel Lucia
California could lose 269,000 jobs if the ACA is overturned
Overturning the ACA would reduce annual federal funding to California by $28.8 billion in 2022, the year of focus for this analysis. Many Californians’ jobs are also at stake should the ACA be overturned. California would be projected to have 269,000 fewer jobs, $29.3 billion less in state GDP, and $2.2 billion less in state and local tax revenue, compared to if the ACA remains in effect.
October 15, 2020 -
Laurel Lucia
Methods: California could lose 269,000 jobs if the ACA is overturned
October 9, 2020 -
New Publications from California Health Care Foundation, co-authored by Laurel Lucia
The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) has released two new publications, co-authored by Labor Center researchers, exploring COVID-related health coverage trends in the state through early summer and the important role of Medi-Cal coverage for workers.
California’s Health Coverage Gains under the Affordable Care Act: What’s at Stake in California v. Texas?
This fact sheet highlights the key health coverage gains made in California under the state’s robust implementation of the ACA since it was enacted over 10 years ago. These achievements show how much is at stake in California v. Texas, the case the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on November 10, 2020, under which the ACA could be overturned.
Health coverage of California workers most at risk of job loss due to COVID-19
Many California workers are at risk of losing their job-based health coverage when they lose their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this data brief, we examine which types of health insurance, if any, the workers most at risk of job loss had prior to this crisis. We use this analysis to inform our estimate that for every 100,000 California workers losing their jobs due to the pandemic, up to 67,000 workers, spouses, and children are at risk of losing job-based coverage.
February 20, 2020 -
Laurel Lucia
High Health Care Prices are the Primary Driver of California Workers’ Health Care Cost Problems
This is the eighth post in the Labor Center’s blog series “Rising Health Care Costs in California: A Worker Issue.”