Congressman Salud Carbajal joined officials from the Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health to encourage Central Coast residents to take advantage of the open enrollment period for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace, which is open now through January 31st.
Congressman Carbajal highlighted where his work on health care affordability legislation last year saved the average Central Coast resident more than $1,000 in premiums through the Covered California marketplace this year.
“This year marks the tenth year that ACA plans have been available since the law was created by President Obama and Democrats in Congress – and I’m proud to share that coverage through this marketplace has never been cheaper, thanks to the work my colleagues and I have been doing in Congress,” said Rep. Carbajal. “We passed laws that increased and expanded subsidies that lowered premiums for middle-class families and upper-class families. of the workforce – part of our goal of ensuring that every American has access to affordable, quality health care.”
Last year, Rep. Carbajal helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act to lower the cost of health care plans in the ACA marketplace.
According to estimates from the US Department of Health and Human Services, because of that law the average enrollee in the Central Coast will save $1,150 in premiums this year.
In 2023, there will be 41,000 residents in 24 of Californiath Congressional District, which includes all of Santa Barbara County and parts of San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, enrolled in a plan through Covered California.
More on the projected savings provided by Carbajal’s work last year can be found here.
“Thank you to Congressman Carbajal and our Federal Partners who support our health care centers,” said Dana Gamble, Deputy Director of the Primary Care and Family Health Division for the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. “The Affordable Care Act has had a major impact on access to care at our health care centers. In 2013, the year before Covered California began, our health care centers served more than 14,000 uninsured patients who have to pay out of pocket for care and only 8,000 patients have Medi-Cal as their insurance coverage. Last year in 2022 the number of uninsured decreased to 4,000 while 16,000 patients are covered by Medi-Cal.
The support provided by Carbajal and his colleagues in Congress this past term brought the number of uninsured Americans to the lowest point in recorded history: 8% in 2022.
The total number receiving health insurance through an ACA marketplace reached a record high of 16.4 million in 2023.
“Every year these plans help more people, and people see these plans get better and better for their bottom line,” said Rep. Carbajal. “I know there is more to do to achieve our goal of ensuring that every American has access to affordable quality health care, but these steps we have taken over the past year show that we are on the right track.”
Central Coast residents can sign up for a new health plan through Covered California anytime between now and January 31.
For coverage guaranteed to begin on January 1, the deadline is December 15.
Sign-ups can be done through CoveredCA.com or through one of the Santa Barbara County Health Department health centers.
