Expanding Health Coverage - California Health Care Foundation

Expanding Health Coverage
Under the Affordable Care Act, millions of Californians obtained health coverage, and the state’s insured rate rose to an all-time high. Much work remains, however, to ensure that all Californians can get and stay covered. CHCF produces data and analyses to inform efforts to protect coverage gains and further expand coverage so that all Californians can get the health care they need.

Sign up for CHCF updates on Expanding Health Coverage

Changes to Public Charge Rule

On August 12, 2019, the federal government finalized radical changes to “public charge” rules in an effort to disqualify many immigrants from gaining permanent residency in the US. The rule went into effect in California on February 24, 2020, even as multiple legal challenges continue to move through the federal courts. The US Citizenship and Immigration Service has announced that immigrants can seek testing, treatment, and prevention of COVID-19 without fearing immigration consequences due to public charge.

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.

Overturn of ACA Would Wreak Havoc in Time of Pandemic

Xenia Shih Bion

Expanding Health Coverage, Coverage Trends, Medi-Cal

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Americans are watching warily as the US Supreme Court considers the future of the ACA.

Expanding Medicaid Can Save Lives

August 12, 2019

Xenia Shih Bion

Stories That Caught Our Attention: A new study suggests that the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion reduced death rates among older adults with low incomes.

Resource Page: Covering All Californians

Coverage Trends, Medi-Cal

California is in the midst of a critical discussion about how to achieve the goal of covering every Californian. To inform this discussion, CHCF curates key California-specific resources and analyses around the remaining uninsured and around policy options designed to preserve and expand coverage.

The Individual Mandate Penalty Is Ending. Californians May Pay the Price.

Expanding Health Coverage, Coverage Trends

With the individual mandate penalty scheduled to be removed next year, a new Harvard study projects a significant impact on both California and the nation.

ACA Reduces Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Health Coverage Rates in California

Coverage Trends

New data from the California Health Insurance Survey show that coverage in California remained stable in 2016–17. Of particular note is how the Affordable Care Act has narrowed disparities in coverage between different racial and ethnic groups.

California’s Policy Options: Making Individual Market Coverage More Affordable

Expanding Health Coverage, Coverage Trends

The UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education has released a report detailing affordability concerns of Californians seeking individual market coverage. It also outlines five policy options that could move the state closer to universal coverage.

ACA’s Impact: Fewer Uninsured in Most Congressional Districts

With the intensifying debate over the future of the Affordable Care Act, this timely analysis provides data about changes in the uninsured population between 2013 and 2015 by congressional district.

Asking the Important Questions About Single Payer in California

November 13, 2017

Sandra R. Hernández

Payment & Financing

In California, interest is growing in a single-payer health care system. To help with the discussion, CHCF commissioned Key Questions When Considering a State-Based Single-Payer System in California.

Three Years In, ACA Gains Hold Steady in California

November 2, 2017

Coverage Trends, Medi-Cal

California's uninsured rate remained at historic lows in 2016, with dramatic and statistically significant declines in the uninsured rate across income levels, race/ethnicity, and geography.