KHH1

A survey finds 36% of uninsured Californians don’t know about Obamacare subsidies.

BY CHAD TERHUNE
Heading into Obama-care’s third open enrollment starting Nov. 1, uninsured Californians know more about the stick of federal tax penalties than the carrot of premium subsidies.

Officials at the Covered California exchange say that’s a problem because consumers regularly cite high costs as the reason they don’t sign up.

New survey data show that 36% of uninsured Californians are unaware of the premium subsidies available under the Affordable Care Act. In contrast, only 16% didn’t know about the tax penalty for lacking health coverage.

About 90% of the 1.3 million Covered California enrollees receive subsidies, and more than 200,000 people pay less than $50 a month thanks to that financial assistance.

Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, said subsidies are the most important factor in persuading people to buy insurance.

“We cannot ignore the reality that too many uninsured Californians still don’t know they can get financial help to buy brand-name insurance,” Lee said. “Even after years of work, we still haven’t gotten through to all Californians.”

On the state website, officials have found some consumers stop shopping when they see the total insurance premium pop up and they don’t look further down where it shows the discounted amount they would actually pay every month.

Lee said the exchange is making changes to its website and advertising to better promote the potential savings to consumers. That new message will be part of the state’s $29-million marketing campaign for open enrollment, which runs Nov. 1 to Jan. 31.

Consumers qualify for subsidies if they make less than four times the federal poverty level — about $47,000 for a single adult and $97,000 for a family of four.

The federal tax penalties for being uninsured are increasing for 2016, too. For next year, uninsured individuals would pay a minimum penalty of $695 or up to $2,500, depending on their household income.

Overall, there are about 4 million Californians who remain without health coverage. Nearly half of them are not eligible for health-law subsidies or an expansion of Medicaid because they are living in the country illegally.

About 1.4 million of the uninsured qualify for Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program for low-income residents, but they haven’t enrolled.

Lee said that leaves about 750,000 uninsured Californians who are eligible for subsidies toward private health insurance.

He said the state wants to add 295,000 to 450,000 new enrollees by the end of January. At the same time, some current policyholders are expected to leave the exchange as people get benefits through work or Medi-Cal or decide to drop coverage altogether.

In some areas of the state, consumers will have new insurance options. UnitedHealth Group Inc., the nation’s largest health insurer, and Oscar Insurance Corp., a New York-based start-up, will be selling policies in Covered California for the first time starting next month.

UnitedHealth will be offering policies in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties as well as several rural areas of Northern California. Oscar will be sold in Orange County and western L.A. County.

The exchange also will be offering optional adult dental coverage as an added benefit in 2016.

Renewals inside Covered California began earlier this month, and health-policy experts are reminding consumers to check their options again because they might be able to avoid a rate increase and save significant money by switching health plans.

The average premium increase for 2016 is 4% statewide, but some insurers are imposing double-digit rate hikes for certain policy types or regions.

To make enrolling easier, Covered California said it would have about 500 storefront locations statewide. That’s more than double what the exchange had at the start of last year’s open enrollment. chad.terhune@latimes.com

jelun

Perhaps the solution is FB advertising.

moldyoldy

You need to submit that idea.

jelun

I may use my FB via my phone tomorrow!

BTW, here are the Cali income guidelines.

http://www.coveredca.com/shopandcompare/2015/#incomeGuidelines

moldyoldy

Thanks.

Dave Loc: Upstate New York

Seems that the government is having trouble selling products below cost - one more example of the effectiveness of government programs

jelun

It seems that some conservatives on OPP are getting lower and lower on the intelligence scale.

Dave Loc: Upstate New York

..not so low as to not be aware that selling something below cost of it suggests either inept sellers or a product whose true value is far below its true cost.

jelun

Low enough so someone doesn't recognize that those numbers are not for selling health insurance but for expanded Medicaid.

Now go away, I have not forgotten the games you like to play.