The State Legislature passed the final 2021-2022 health budget bill (AB 133) that includes historic investments in expanding and improving health coverage for millions of Californians. It now goes to Governor Newsom for his final signature in the coming days. Many of the proposals included in this budget bill were key priorities of the Care4All California coalition of over […]
New Bills Aim to Lower Costs and Improve Affordability Assistance in Covered California
This week, California legislators announced two new bills to help more Californians struggling to afford health care coverage for themselves or their family. AB 2347 by Assemblymember Wood, Chair of the Assembly Health Committee and SB 65 by Senator Pan, Chair of the Senate Health Committee. These bills provide new investments to enhance federal and state subsides in Covered […]
New CHCF Poll: Increasing Number of Californians Struggle to Pay for Health Care and Over Half Have Delayed Due to Cost
The California Health Care Foundation has released a new poll showing that Californians are increasingly worried about the rising cost of health care, and want the state to take action. The poll, which surveyed a representative sample of Californians, also found that over half of Californians have postponed or skipped care due to cost. Results […]
Remembering Beth Abbott, Deluxe Patient Advocate
We at Health Access, along with the wider California Capitol community and nationwide health care policy and consumer advocacy community, were saddened to hear yesterday that our dear colleague and friend Beth Abbott passed away this weekend. Beth served as the Director of Administrative Advocacy at Health Access California for nearly nine years, after a long […]
New California Budget Takes Key Step to Expand Access and Increase Affordability in Health Care
Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom officially unveiled his 2020-2021 State Budget, which includes major new investments in access to health coverage and to lower health care costs. The 2020-2021 $222 billion state budget ($153 billion general fund), includes first-in-the-nation investments towards universal coverage and cost containment. The budget also includes ambitious efforts to prevent inflated […]
Launch of Open Enrollment in Covered California with Additional Affordability Assistance Highlights the Landmark Year in CA Health Reform
Today marks the beginning of Covered California’s open enrollment. With hundreds of millions of dollars in new financial assistance now available for Californians, it caps off a landmark year for health reform in California. Despite the best efforts of the Trump Administration to sabotage our health care, California has taken bold action not just to […]
CoveredCA Regional Rates for 2020 Show Substantial Savings Available with New Subsides & Shopping Around
Last week, Covered California released a detailed breakdown of rate changes in 19 regions across the state. Earlier this month, Covered California announced that Californians will only see an average premium rate increase of less than 1% – the lowest change in the exchange’s history. This new detailed information shows that at least three regions […]
CoveredCA Announces Minimal Rate Increase Due to State Steps to Shore Up and Expand Upon the ACA
Covered California announced today that 2020 individual insurance premiums will see a minimal average rate increase of less than one percent. The announcement also highlights the expected increase in health insurance enrollment of over 225,000 Californians due to the new financial help that was included in the 2019-2020 state budget negotiated last month. These minimal […]
New #CABudget Deal To Help Hundreds of Thousands with Health Coverage
Last night, the California Budget Conference Committee voted on a budget proposal that reflected a deal between the Governor and Legislature, including investments in health services with additional steps to universal coverage. As a result of this budget, hundreds of thousands of Californians will get more help to access and afford health coverage, preventing premium […]
Advocates Encourage Lawmakers to Make Budget Investments that Help the Most Californians
Last week the Assembly voted on its proposed budget investments in health and human services, while the previous week, the Senate proposed to expand Medi-Cal and to help middle-income Californians better afford premiums in Covered California and the individual insurance market. Both build on Governor Newsom’s 2019-2020 May Revision that includes first-in-nation steps toward universal coverage. See […]