Individual Market

California Health Insurers Almanac — 2024 Edition

Katherine Wilson

This Almanac provides a snapshot of the insurance market in California at the end of 2022. Data from the state’s two insurance regulators — the California Department of Managed Health Care and the California Department of Insurance — and other sources were used to examine market share, enrollment, financial performance, and consumer satisfaction.

Clearing the Path: Streamlining Enrollment in Covered California for Californians Transitioning from Medi-Cal

JoAnn Volk, Sabrina Corlette, Justin Giovannelli, Kevin Lucia, Edwin Park

Coverage Trends, Medi-Cal

This report examines the initial implementation of SB 260, which instructs Covered California to automatically enroll eligible Californians transitioning from Medi-Cal in a subsidized marketplace plan.

California Health Insurance Enrollment in 2021

Katherine Wilson

Coverage Trends

Total health insurance enrollment in California in 2021 increased by 1.4% (474,000) to 34.3 million enrollees. This compared to 3.3% growth in 2020.

California Health Insurance Stable in 2021, but Many Will Need to Switch Coverage Once COVID-19 Pandemic Protections End

State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC)

Coverage Trends

During 2021, the second calendar year of the COVID-19 pandemic, California’s health insurance landscape remained relatively stable. This article focuses exclusively on Californians under age 65, which is the threshold for age-based Medicare coverage, and the coverage rates highlighted below include children except where otherwise specified (i.e., “nonelderly adults”).

Health Insurance and Health Care Affordability Perceptions Among Individual Insurance Market Enrollees in California in 2021

Vicki Fung, Mary Price, John Hsu

Health Care Costs

This 2021 survey sought to better understand if Californians purchasing their health insurance on the individual market perceived their coverage to be affordable.

Unexpected Growth in California Health Insurance During COVID-19 Recession

Katherine Wilson

Coverage Trends

Data from California regulators show that — despite job losses — health insurance enrollment in the pandemic year 2020 increased by over one million (3.3%). State and federal policies designed to help people get and keep coverage were important factors.

Measuring Up? Access to Care in Medi-Cal Compared to Other Types of Health Insurance (2018)

UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

This report examines if Medi-Cal enrollees face greater difficulty accessing health care services than Californians with employer-sponsored insurance or coverage purchased through the individual market.

American Rescue Plan Improvements to Covered California Affordability: Who Gains?

Miranda Dietz, Srikanth Kadiyala, Tynan Challenor, Annie Rak, Dylan H. Roby, Laurel Lucia, Gerald F. Kominski

Expanding Health Coverage, Coverage Trends

Over 1.6 million Californians will benefit from the rescue plan, including 151,000 individual market enrollees who will qualify for subsidies for the first time and 135,000 uninsured people who will become insured.

State Public Options: Comparing Models from Across the Country

Expanding Health Coverage

This issue brief outlines some of the problems states are addressing with their public option proposals, reports the proposals’ current status, categorizes public option proposals into archetypes, and identifies issues for California policymakers as they explore a state-based public option.

After Justice Ginsburg’s Loss, What a New Court Could Mean for the ACA

September 22, 2020

Expanding Health Coverage, Health Equity

Her death has led to a flood of questions about what comes next for the US Supreme Court and the country.

Data Show 2019 California Health Insurance Enrollment Struck a Balance

Katherine Wilson

Coverage Trends, Medi-Cal

Medi-Cal and individual market enrollment continued to decline but were offset by growth in employer-sponsored and Medicare plans.

The Affordable Care Act Turns 10

Xenia Shih Bion

Expanding Health Coverage, Coverage Trends, Medi-Cal

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Since 2010, the ACA has been folded into American life in myriad ways, reducing the number of people who are uninsured to historically low levels.

Ten Years After: The ACA’s Success in Five Charts

Anne Sunderland

Expanding Health Coverage, Medi-Cal, Coverage Trends

Happy birthday to the landmark law that reshaped the American health care system.

Covered California Enrollment Deadline Looms

January 27, 2020

Xenia Shih Bion

Expanding Health Coverage, Coverage Trends

Stories That Caught Our Attention: The deadline to enroll in a health insurance plan through Covered California is drawing near, but consumers this week can sign up and avoid the new state penalty.

Governor Names Sandra R. Hernández to Healthy California for All Commission

December 18, 2019

Today Governor Gavin Newsom appointed CHCF's Sandra R. Hernández to the Healthy California for All Commission. The Commission is charged with developing a plan to help California achieve a health care delivery system that provides coverage and access through a unified financing system, including — but not limited to — a single-payer financing system for all Californians.