Two-thirds of uninsured Californians gain coverage after Obamacare rollout

According to The New York Times, some insurers have said new customers obtained under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) turned out to be sicker than they expected; others have reported losses on insurance exchange customers, saying that claims paid out exceeded income from premiums. But well into the second year of expanded coverage under the Affordable Care Act, those worries have eased significantly in the nation’s most populous state.

But the survey released Thursday by the Menlo Park-based group also found that plenty of challenges for the newly insured remain when it comes to paying for and accessing care. “This was exactly the goal”, said Dr. Bob Kocher, a senior Obama White House official in 2009 and 2010 who helped draft the federal health care law.

Both the exchange and Medi-Cal have had problems.

The survey results didn’t surprise some consumer health advocates.

So what are the excuses of those who have not signed up yet?

Mollyann Brodie, director of public opinion and survey research at the foundation, said the latest data is strong evidence that people’s sense of financial security and health care have improved to a great extent. In the Covered California plans, numerous complaints have focused on the narrow networks of doctors and hospitals. About 40 percent of them are people who have never had insurance in the past and apparently don’t intend to start now.

Around a quarter of Californians recently insured, however, say that they forgo receiving medical care because of the expenses. 28% of the insured say that they have been made to wait for a longer period of time than they considered reasonable for medical appointments. That’s where doctors removed shards of glass from her foot and treated her strained back.

In 2016, health insurance rates will rise around 4% on average in California.

The survey also found that 41% of the people who were still uninsured weren’t eligible because they were illegal immigrants. Of the rest, 43 percent are eligible for coverage but had been uninsured for two years or more.

This percentage is down from the 42 percent of residents yet to be enrolled in the program in the spring of previous year.

The survey, conducted from February 18 to May 13, included 1,105 adults.