The State of Health Insurance in California: Findings from the 2015-2016 California Health Interview Survey
California led the way in implementing ACA reforms, and national data comparisons of all 50 states clearly show the state has been one of the most successful states in enrolling eligible people in new coverage from the ACA’s full launch in 2014 until today. But California still must contend with and operate under federal rules and guidelines, and when the federal administration changed in 2017 to a president hostile to the ACA, even California felt the pinch and saw uninsured rates begin to creep up again.
This report, which presents 2015-2016 California Health Interview Survey data, is a snapshot in time. The data are from just before the current administration took power, just before the mantra of a Republican-led Congress was that it was going to “repeal and replace Obamacare” in 2017. That did not happen, and the House became controlled by ACA supporters in the next election. This report shows the peak of the ACA, before federal regulators began to backpedal on expansions. Additionally, a new focus on Medicare data is added to this year’s report. With the ACA under attack since 2017, much of the policy conversation around expanding health insurance coverage has turned to building instead on the one widely admired public program, Medicare. While proposals can differ on just how to expand Medicare, they all should be based on solid initial data on what Medicare does for its current enrollees and on how the program compares with other public and private coverage. Authors note that while the ACA’s impact is now slowly declining, even at its height in 2016, millions of Californians still did not have any health insurance coverage.
Publication Authors:
- Shana Charles, PhD, MPP
- Tara Becker, PhD
- Ian Perry
- Ken Jacobs
- Nadereh Pourat, PhD
- Maria Ditter, Dr.med., M.P.H.
- Maria Mekhaiel
- Gerald F. Kominski, Ph.D.