California’s uninsured population has plunged to a historic low of 9.5 percent, according to data released Wednesday by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
In Orange County, the uninsured rate was 9.6 percent, the lowest rate since county data was first collected in 2001.
The information comes from the 2015 California Health Interview Survey, which queried 21,444 households.
“To see this real movement finally, it took a historic law like the Affordable Care Act to really move this needle,” said Shana Alex Charles, a professor of health sciences at Cal State Fullerton who wrote a brief on the survey’s findings. “It’s really gratifying to see that people are enrolling in the programs they’re now eligible for.”
In 2012, two years before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the state’s uninsured rate was 16.3 percent, according to the survey. The data showed that the biggest increase in insurance coverage came among Californians who qualified for the expansion of Medicaid, the state program for low-income residents.
Charles noted that California’s gains are in jeopardy if President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his campaign pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare. She said particularly essential are the federal subsidies that help Californians buy private policies through Covered California and the federal funding for the Medicaid expansion.
“With those two pieces gone, there’s no question that would be a huge blow to the gains that have been made,” she said. “We’re hoping those can be saved.”
Also Wednesday, Covered California announced an extension of the deadline for consumers to sign up for insurance that starts Jan. 1. The deadline was moved from Thursday to midnight Saturday.
Officials of the state’s exchange said there has been a strong increase in new enrollments this week compared with last year at this time. Open enrollment ends Jan. 31 for coverage that would start in February or March. For information, visit CoveredCA.com or call 800-300-1506.
Contact the writer: cperkes@scng.com 714-796-3686
