Blog post exploring the factors surrounding a proposal to expand Covered California to undocumented Californians by creating a “mirror marketplace.” This would give undocumented Californians, who are prevented by federal law from participating in Covered California, the ability to shop, compare, and enroll in health plans.

In April, the Biden Administration announced a proposed rule that would allow an estimated 40,000 uninsured DACA recipients in California access to subsidized health coverage through Covered California. This fills an important gap in health coverage options, but it renders access to Covered California contingent on DACA status—which itself is at risk of being overturned by the courts.

California continues to make remarkable progress in expanding access to health coverage, including by expanding Medi-Cal eligibility for low-income undocumented residents. Yet, we project there will be 520,000 uninsured undocumented residents who earn too much for Medi-Cal and do not have employer coverage. This group remains categorically excluded from enrolling in Covered California and cannot receive federal subsidies to make coverage more affordable.

Labor Center research was used in a years-long campaign by health and immigrant advocates to bring health coverage to undocumented Californians.

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.

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%).

Part of the Labor Center’s Covid-19 Series: Resources, Data, and Analysis for California. In the coming weeks and months, the Labor Center will continually review and update this resource list with information on new COVID-19 legislation, regulations, analysis, and tools.

Part of the Labor Center’s Covid-19 Series: Resources, Data, and Analysis for California. In the coming weeks and months, the Labor Center will continually review and update this post with information on new COVID-19 legislation, regulations, analysis, and tools.

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.

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?

Expanding Medi-Cal to all adults would reduce the number of uninsured in the state by up to one-quarter, potentially newly insuring more than one million Californians. This expansion could improve access to preventive and routine care and improve financial security for those who enroll, in addition to potentially improving worker productivity for those who become newly insured.

Authors of the fact sheet report changes to “public charge” rules proposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could lead to losses of up to $1.67 billion in federal benefits for California and even greater economic losses across the state.

We project that between 150,000 and 450,000 more Californians will be uninsured in 2020, growing to between 490,000 and 790,000 more uninsured in 2023, compared to the projected number if the ACA penalty had been maintained.

In this report, we present data for the state of California on the union advantage in wages and employer-sponsored health and retirement benefits for women, workers of color, and immigrants.

This report profiles three county programs that offer health care services to undocumented residents and aims to serve as a resource for designing and implementing similar programs elsewhere across the nation.

This data book provides estimates of the remaining uninsured in California in 2017 by Covered California rating region and for large counties using a preliminary version of the California Simulation of Insurance Markets (CalSIM) model v 2.0.

Berkeley Blog post. To maximize health coverage among those with DACA and DAPA in California, it will be important to improve awareness of this Medi-Cal eligibility policy and provide assistance to Californians in signing up for DACA and DAPA and in enrolling in Medi-Cal.

In California, the Supreme Court’s decision would not only clear the way for improved work opportunities and wages, reductions in child poverty, and greater peace of mind for families, but it also would expand access to comprehensive health insurance for many.

This brief examines the characteristics of the uninsured and the reasons for remaining uninsured among the undocumented who are ineligible for coverage under the ACA due to their immigration status, and the citizens and lawfully present immigrants who are eligible for coverage but did not enroll.

Chapter from Daniel J.B. Mitchell (editor), California Policy Options 2016, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Discusses the health insurance status, Medi-Cal eligibility, and demographics of California immigrants eligible for the original and the expanded DACA programs and for DAPA.