More Previously Uninsured Californians Got Coverage Under Obamacare

California’s Consumer Watchdog experts said that despite the optimistic numbers in the report, there was a long way toward making health care affordable to Californians. The ACA bars undocumented immigrants from buying federally subsidized health insurance on the exchange or getting covered through Medi-Cal.

The survey noticed a difference, of those in California who were not insured in 2013, 86% of them said that they find it hard to pay for healthcare.

In the first study by Kaiser Family Foundation, the experience of uninsured people in California, where the state government had wholeheartedly welcomed the ACA when it became law was studied. Regarding customer satisfaction, 86 percent of the newly insured said that their healthcare needs are being met “very well” or “somewhat well”, as compared to the lukewarm 51 percent share in 2013.

Of the Californians insured via Medi-Cal, 83 percent declared that they are satisfied with their healthcare plan.

Despite political hurdles, the Affordable Care Act may be coming through on its promise to provide health coverage to uninsured Californians, suggested a study released today by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

“For people that didn’t have health insurance, California has been very successful in enrolling two-thirds of that group”, senior vice president Mollyann Brodie, from the Kaiser Family Foundation, said. Additionally, doctors are not tempted to register with Medi-Cal because the program offers some of the lowest reimbursements in the U.S. So, low-income and disabled patients many times lack access to a physician when they need one.

Indeed, another 43 percent of the remaining uninsured residents are eligible, but chose to remain uninsured in the past two years or more. Open enrollment in Obamacare insurance resumes in November; enrollment in Medicaid is year-round.

In addition, 16 percent of respondents also revealed that they were turned away by certain doctors, who would not accept them due to their insurance, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel. That is a significant decrease from 2013 when the ACA was enacted. In an effort to cover these so-called “remaining uninsured”, Sen.

The Sun-Times argues it’s all about cooperation, and that if truly given a chance to work, Obamacare can get people off the uninsured roles and into good coverage.

Around a quarter of Californians recently insured, however, say that they forgo receiving medical care because of the expenses. States that developed their own exchanges, for example, were able to sign up more residents, thus increasing coverage and lowering costs as a result.

A total of 57.1 percent of Texas’ uninsured are Hispanic, according to the report. This will make them eligible for health insurance benefits that would help them get their medical needs met. Another 17.3 percent said, “I do not want health insurance” when asked why they were still uninsured.