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.