Uninsured

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%).

Testimony from Assembly hearing on California’s current health care system.

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.

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.

This is the third post in the Labor Center’s blog series “Rising Health Care Costs in California: A Worker Issue.” Job-based coverage remains the most common form of health coverage…

This is the second post in the Labor Center’s blog series “Rising Health Care Costs in California: A Worker Issue.” While our blog series will primarily focus on Californians with…

This is the first post in the Labor Center’s blog series “Rising Health Care Costs in California: A Worker Issue.” California workers with job-based health coverage are feeling the pain…

Many California policymakers have expressed a desire and commitment to resist federal sabotage of the ACA, control health care costs, and achieve universal health care coverage. As the state explores ways to fundamentally redesign our health care delivery system—including by adopting a single payer or other unified public financing approach—state policymakers are also considering near-term policies that do not require federal approval but address the immediate challenges of improving affordability and expanding coverage.

California made historic gains in health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but several million Californians remain uninsured and many struggle to afford individual market insurance.

543,000 Californians ages 0-64 were estimated to be eligible for Medi-Cal but uninsured in 2016-2017, most of whom were adults (79% were over age 18). Why are some Californians uninsured in spite of their Medi-Cal eligibility?