Covered California urges SJ residents to enroll before deadline

Jan. 09--STOCKTON -- Peter Lee knows that health care affordability is the No. 1 financial issue for most Californians, particularly those not covered by their employer who must purchase insurance in the individual market.

Tuesday marks the final day to enroll with a health insurance plan through Covered California, the state's Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace, to get coverage for all of 2019. In previous years, open enrollment ran through the end of January.

"Covered California knows that many consumers are deadline driven and often wait until the final few days to sign up for health insurance," Lee, the executive director of Covered California, said in encouraging San Joaquin County residents who need affordable coverage to:

* Go to the website at https://www.coveredca.com/.

* Call Covered California at (800) 787-6921.

* Get local help from a certified insurance agent or certified enrollment counselor listed on the "Need Help?" button on the website.

* Contact the San Joaquin County Human Services Agency, 333 E. Washington St., Stockton, or (209) 468-1000.

Once enrolled by Tuesday, health insurance coverage will begin Feb. 1.

Lee said the https://www.coveredca.com/ website will lead consumers who need further help to insurance agents in their neighborhood and those who speak other languages such as Spanish, Laotian or Punjabi.

"We are doing everything we can in recognizing that people do need help," he said. "We know it's confusing."

Most people -- 80 percent of Californians, Lee said -- have an insurance agent or navigator available within five minutes of where they live to help them enroll.

Since the advent of the Affordable Care Act, Covered California has been effective in enrolling uninsured county residents. As of September, it had 27,350 enrollees and reported the uninsured rate in San Joaquin County between 2013 and 2017 dropped from 17.7 percent to 6.7 percent.

Lee said the majority of uninsured Californians who are eligible for financial help either do not know premium subsidies are available or mistakenly think they do not qualify.

Nearly nine out of 10 Covered California consumers receive financial help. The average enrollee pays about $5 per day for coverage.

And one out of every three Covered California consumers who receive financial help can purchase a Silver plan -- which provides the best overall value, according to Lee -- for $50 or less per month. Nearly three out of five of these consumers can get a Silver plan for $100 or less per month.

Consumers can find out if they are eligible for financial help and see which plans are available in their area by entering their ZIP code, household income and the ages of those who need coverage into the Covered California website's Shop and Compare Tool.

California is one of six marketplaces across the nation still enrolling consumers through open enrollment, accounting for a quarter of the U.S. population. California's Jan. 15 deadline is due to a state law that established that open enrollment would run from Oct. 15 through Jan. 15 each year. Open enrollment is the one time of the year when consumers can sign up for coverage without needing to meet any conditions.

"Do not wait until the last minute, or let this deadline go past, without checking your options," Lee said. "In only a few minutes at https://www.coveredca.com/, you can see which plans are available in your area and whether you qualify for financial help to bring the price of coverage within reach."

Contact reporter Joe Goldeen at (209) 546-8278 or jgoldeen@recordnet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGoldeen.

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