Are Californians Willing To Pay To Keep ACA-Like Coverage For All Residents?
If federal funds are cut off through a potential repeal of the health law, Californians would have to make up the difference to keep people covered. Meanwhile, the enrollment deadline has arrived, and despite uncertainty around Obamacare's future, the numbers show that people are still signing up.
The Mercury News:
Could California Go It Alone With Obamacare? How Much Are You Willing To Pay?
One GOP-generated proposal would allow individual states to keep Obamacare-style health insurance — for a price. And that ultimately could force California voters to decide whether they’d be willing to pay more in taxes to continue providing subsidized insurance coverage for at least 5 million residents...“The big issue with California is the federal in-flow of dollars,’’ said Christine Eibner, a senior economist at RAND Corporation. That amounts each year to $22.5 billion in federal funds — more than $17 billion of that to add millions of uninsured low-income adults to Medi-Cal, the state’s health program for the disabled and poor. The rest of that money provides subsidies to lower the cost of health plans for most of the 1.3 million who buy their insurance through the state’s health exchange. (Seipel, 1/30)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Covered California Signups Continue Amid Talk Of Obamacare Repeal
Californians are continuing to sign up for health insurance through the state-run marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act, despite uncertainty over the future of the federal health care law. Some 327,000 new people, about the same number as last year, have signed up for insurance plans during open enrollment, which runs from Nov. 1 to Tuesday, according to figures from Covered California. The figure represents the number of new signups through Jan. 24. (Ho, 1/30)
KPCC:
Covered California Deadline Looms Amidst Uncertainty About Health Law
The deadline to enroll in Covered California is Tuesday at midnight. And despite the uncertainty swirling around the future of the Affordable Care Act, policymakers and experts say people should sign up for health insurance – and people appear to be listening. As of last Monday, more than 320,000 people had newly enrolled in insurance through the state exchange since Nov. 1. The rate at which people are enrolling in coverage for the first time is on pace with last year, Covered California officials said. (Plevin, 1/31)
California Healthline:
Headaches Persist As Covered California Enrollment Nears End
Covered California’s fourth annual open enrollment period, set to end Tuesday, has been rocky for many consumers. During this period, two Covered California errors have affected roughly 50,000 policy holders, leading to higher-than-expected premiums or the potential loss of their tax credits. (1/31)