Summary
California has made historic progress under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by cutting the uninsurance rate by more than half, resulting in approximately 93 percent of Californians now having health insurance. However, many Californians continue to face difficulties in affording premium and out-of-pocket costs. Affordability challenges can deter enrollment in and retention of coverage, cause financial difficulties for those struggling to pay premiums or medical bills, and decrease access to care.
In this report, which uses 2014-2016 California Health Interview Survey data, authors focus specifically on the affordability challenges for the 2.3 million Californians who purchase private insurance individually and for many of the 1.2 million Californians who are eligible to purchase insurance through Covered California but remain uninsured. They also explore state policy options for improving affordability of individual market premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and consequently helping move the state closer to universal coverage. This set of policy options was developed based on analysis of the available evidence on affordability concerns in California’s individual market, as well as on a review of policies used by other states and localities to improve affordability.
Publication Authors:
- Laurel Lucia, MPP
- Ken Jacobs