Californians get health care for $10 a month. The deadline is coming up fast
Covered California is barreling toward the first of two key open enrollment deadlines as New Year’s Eve approaches. If state residents want their insurance coverage to go into effect at the start of 2023, they must sign up for a policy and pay their first bill by Saturday.
The exchange’s second key deadline will be Jan. 31, when open enrollment ends.
“Everyone deserves the protection and peace of mind that come with having high-quality, affordable health insurance,” said Jessica Altman, executive director of Covered California. “Once again — whether it is COVID, the flu, RSV or other illnesses — access to health care coverage is essential for every Californian to stay healthy and safe.”
Nationally, President Joe Biden’s administration announced that 11.5 million Americans have rushed to get coverage under policies offered in the federal marketplace. The number of sign-ups have jumped 18% over the same period last year.
“Unprecedented investments lead to unprecedented results,” said Xavier Becerra, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services. “Under President Biden’s leadership, we have strengthened the Affordable Care Act Marketplace with continued record affordability, robust competition, and historic outreach efforts — and today’s enrollment numbers reflect that.”
Covered California’s tiered options
Covered California officials estimate that 1 million state residents do not have health insurance and are eligible for financial help to bring down the cost of coverage. Among them, 568,000 people could get covered at no cost by either Medi-Cal or a policy offered through Covered California.
Among all Covered California enrollees, 90% or eligible for some kind of financial help to reduce the cost of policies. Two-thirds could get covered for $10 or less because of federal subsidies, although many of those enrollees choose to pay a little more out of pocket to get a plan that offers additional benefits.
“Regardless of your income, if you need health insurance or even if you’re covered directly through a health insurance company, come to Covered California to see if you can get financial help to make your coverage more affordable,” Altman said.
In one example, Covered California noted that a 21-year-old Los Angeles worker making $27,000 a year could get a silver-tiered plan — which features low co-pays and deductibles — for $36 a month. Or, they could opt for a Bronze plan at no cost.
Covered California policies are offered in four metal tiers: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. “As the metal category increases in value, so does the percentage of medical expenses that a health plan covers compared with what you are expected to pay in co-pays and deductibles,” according to the coveredca.com website.
The state-based exchanged cited another example of a Sacramento couple with two children and a household income of $83,250 a year. Because of federal subsidies, this couple could get a silver-tiered plan for $350 a month rather than paying $1,698 a month. If they want to pay even less, they could choose a Bronze plan for $67 per month.
More options for families
In addition, the Internal Revenue Service has made a rule change that eliminates the so-called “family glitch” for about 391,000 Californians. In the past, if a family member qualified for low-cost job-sponsored insurance coverage, that individual’s dependents couldn’t get coverage through Covered California, even though it was cheaper because of subsidies.
Now the IRS allows families to weigh whether employer-based policies are affordable not only for the worker but for the entire family.
“The new rule means that families that were either forced to spend a significant amount of their income to be a part of their loved one’s health plan, or go uninsured, can now get more-affordable coverage through Covered California,” Altman said.
She cited one example of a couple who would have had to pay $450 a month for coverage on an employer-based plan, but because of federal subsidies, could get a silver-tiered policy through Covered California for $25 a month.
Altman urged all Californians to check the coveredca.com to see whether they qualify for low-cost coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act.
This story was originally published December 28, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
