Previously uninsured seeing benefits of health care law, survey says

A study released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests the Affordable Care Act is working in California.

Most people who were once uninsured are now covered and their health needs are being met.

The self-reported data, collected from 1,105 individuals, show that 68 percent of previously uninsured adults in California had health coverage after the ACA’s second enrollment period, which ended February 2015.

In the San Joaquin Valley, the number jumped to 74 percent.

The remaining uninsured group is made up in large part by undocumented immigrants, who are excluded from the ACA, and people who have been uninsured for many years.

In the San Joaquin Valley, undocumented people account for 10 percent of those who remain without health insurance. That means 16 percent of the remaining uninsured in the valley are eligible for Medi-Cal or Covered California.

Statewide, undocumented people make up almost half of those remaining uninsured.

Some of the reasons reported for not signing up, according to the study, include costs, complications with the application process and simply not trying.

The survey found that most of California’s previously uninsured enrolled in Medi-Cal, with 34 percent signing up for that program. Fourteen percent gained employer coverage and an additional 12 percent enrolled in a Covered California plan.

The new survey found similar success rates in covering different groups in California.

“Our latest survey shows that previously uninsured Hispanics who are eligible to enroll through Medi-Cal or Covered California are signing up at the same rates as whites,” said Mollyann Brodie, senior vice president and executive director for public opinion and survey research at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

“The group that’s left is a harder-to-reach group,” Brodie said. “Many of them are eligible ... but they haven’t been attached to the health insurance system in a very long time.”

Larry Levitt, senior vice president at the foundation, said affordability challenges, especially for middle-income families, could be one of the reasons people are not signing up. Penalties for not having health insurance have been relatively modest. The next couple of years, as penalties start to ramp up substantially, will be telling as to whether those who remain uninsured can be reached, he said.

People who have become recently insured have also reported feeling less financial stress. Meanwhile, those who remain uninsured rank health care costs as their top financial challenge.

Those who gained coverage have also reported mostly positive experiences. The recently insured are also largely satisfied with their plan’s choice of primary care doctors, the survey showed.

But challenges do exist. Three in 10 of the newly insured say that, in the past 12 months, they’ve had to wait longer than they thought reasonable for an appointment. Also, 16 percent of this group said a doctor’s office told them they were not accepting new patients.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Previously uninsured seeing benefits of health care law, survey says."