Under the Affordable Care Act, states have the option to create a Basic Health Program (BHP) to provide coverage for legal residents who have incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level and who are ineligible for Medi-Cal. If California does not establish a BHP, this population would be eligible for subsidized coverage through the California Health Benefit Exchange. Legislation to establish a BHP in California is pending.

CHCF hosted a Sacramento briefing on how a BHP aligns with various policy and market goals, including its potential effects on low-income consumers, safety-net providers, the state general fund, the California Health Benefit Exchange, and the health insurance marketplace, as well as how future federal policy guidance might influence a BHP.

New data assembled by researchers at UCLA and UC Berkeley on the characteristics of the BHP-eligible population also were discussed.

Agenda

10:00 — Welcome and Introduction: Marian Mulkey, director, Health Reform and Public Programs Initiative, CHCF

10:10 — Project Context and Overview: Nancy Wise, vice president of planning and strategy, HTMS

10:15 — Profile of the BHP-Eligible Population: Gerald Kominski, director, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

10:25 — Impact on Policy Goals: Nancy Wise

10:55 — Reaction and Comments: Lucien Wulsin, director, Insure the Uninsured Project

11:05 — Questions and Discussion

11:25 — Closing Comments

A video of the briefing and the presentation slides are available below.