CaHPSA E-Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 7
The State of Health Coverage in California
A Spotlight on Medi-Cal Expansion for Young Adults and the Remaining Uninsured
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Full-Scope Medi-Cal Coverage for Undocumented Young Adults
New eligibility for young undocumented adults 19-25
Beginning on January 1, 2020, California will extend Medi-Cal eligibility to undocumented young adults. This expansion, made available by the 2019-20 state budget which delegated $98 million in funds, would increase access to coverage for undocumented young adults ages 19-25.
Currently, low-income undocumented Californians are eligible to receive restricted-scope Medi-Cal, which only covers emergency and pregnancy-related services. Full-scope Medi-Cal, on the other hand, provides comprehensive health benefits, similar to those associated with job-based coverage.
With the upcoming expansion, approximately 90,000 undocumented young adults will be eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal in the first year alone! The following timelines have been proposed for implementation, during which time community outreach and education are essential. Regardless of potential barriers to enrollment, such as misinformation stemming from federal government efforts to change the public charge rules and the inherent difficulty of enrolling young adult populations, the expansion of Medi-Cal to undocumented young adults is a significant step towards building a more equitable and accessible healthcare system in California.
In 2020, we hope you will join CaHPSA in publicizing the expansion of full-scope Medi-Cal to young undocumented adults. Advocacy is also critical in the new year as we continue pushing for additional health policies that will make our healthcare system more affordable, accessible, and comprehensive.
Connect with us to learn more about opportunities to attend legislative visits and take action in 2020!
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Who is Left Uninsured in California?
Health insurance still remains inaccessible for many Californians
Following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the percentage of uninsured Californians under the age of 65 dropped from 16% to 8.1% in 2018. State-level action in the form of legislation and outreach have led to significant gains in coverage, and California has maintained a low uninsured rate. However, approximately 3 million people remain uninsured in California.
The following graphics were prepared by Insure the Uninsured Project (ITUP) using 2018 data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). These graphs provide a breakdown of uninsured Californians by county and by race and ethnicity.
- Click HERE to read the ITUP Snapshot report on the uninsured.
- Click HERE to access CHIS data on health coverage.
Insure the Uninsured Project (ITUP). October 2019. Figure 1 Uninsured Californians Under Age 65 by Region, 2018. Retrieved from http://www.itup.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ITUP_SNAPSHOT_REV_071519.pdf.
Insure the Uninsured Project (ITUP). May 2019. Figure 2 Uninsured Californians Under Age 65 by Race and Ethnicity, 2017. ITUP Snapshot: Remaining Uninsured in California. Retrieved from http://www.itup.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ITUP_SNAPSHOT_REV_071519.pdf.
As seen in the graphs above, a majority of the remaining uninsured are in Los Angeles County with the highest rate at 12.8% and 63% of uninsured Californians are Latino. When looking at the breakdown of uninsured Californians under the age of 65 by Federal Poverty Level (FPL), approximately 849,000 uninsured Californians have incomes less than 138% of the FPL. Although this meets the income eligibility for full-scope Medi-Cal, many are unable to enroll due to their immigration status, thus leaving them without comprehensive health insurance.
Insure the Uninsured Project (ITUP). October 2019. Figure 3 Uninsured Californians Under Age 65 by Federal Poverty Level, 2018. Retrieved from http://www.itup.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ITUP_SNAPSHOT_REV_071519.pdf.
What does this mean for the future of uninsured Californians? As projected by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, without continued state policy change, the number of uninsured Californians will not significantly decrease. Additional legislation, funding, and community outreach will help move California toward universal coverage and a healthcare system that is equitable, comprehensive, and accessible for all of our state's residents.
References:
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Stay tuned for our next issue of the CaHPSA E-Newsletter!
Read our past newsletters here
Questions? Suggestions for future newsletters? Contact us
CaHPSA is the student section of California Physicians Alliance (CaPA).
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