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Weighed down: Californians and the financial burden of health care coverage
Weighed down: Californians and the financial burden of health care coverage
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Issue brief (California HealthCare Foundation)
- Author(s):
- Planalp, Colin, author
Hartman, Lacey, author - Contributor(s):
- California HealthCare Foundation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Oakland, California] : California Health Care Foundation, September 2020
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Insurance Coverage -- economics
Insurance, Health -- economics
California
United States
United States. - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- With implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014, many Americans have obtained health insurance with the help of public coverage, through expanded Medicaid eligibility for people with low incomes and through government subsidies to make private individual-market coverage more affordable for people with moderate incomes. While the ACA dramatically reduced uninsured rates in the US and in California, affordability of health insurance and health care continue to pose challenges for many people. This issue brief explores the affordability of health coverage in California in 2018, the latest year for which data are available, with a particular focus on health insurance deductibles and on who reports the greatest affordability challenges. It also explores what data suggest about some of the consequences of those challenges, such as taking on credit card debt to pay medical bills and trouble paying for basic necessities, including food and housing. Where possible, this issue brief compares data in 2018 to 2013, the last year before full implementation of the ACA, to assess trends under the ACA. The COVID-19 pandemic emerged in California when this issue brief was being written. Affordability is one of many important factors that may shape Californians' willingness to seek, and their ability to obtain, the health care they need during this public health crisis. While the data analyzed here precede the pandemic, they paint a picture of important trends in Californians' ability to afford health care coverage and care a little more than a year before the pandemic hit.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (12 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101771827 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101771827