What Does HR 3962 Mean for the Coverage of California’s Families

About one in every five Californians goes without health insurance, millions more have inadequate insurance, and countless more struggle with accumulating medical bills and discriminatory practices by insurers. The health reform bill in the House of Representatives, H.R. 3962, Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009, would provide virtually every Californian with affordable health insurance, either on the job, through a newly created Health Exchange, through a Public Option, from Medi- Cal or improved Medicare benefits. Preliminary analyses of H.R. 3962 indicate that most Californians would keep the coverage they currently have, almost 2 million (mostly low-income adults without children under 18) would become newly eligible for Medi-Cal, and over 4 million Californians would be able to purchase coverage in the newly-created Health Insurance Exchange (most with the help of affordability credits).