Trumpcare could price thousands in SJ out of health coverage

March 14--STOCKTON -- A large number of the 27,848 San Joaquin County residents who are enrolled in Covered California could find that their current health insurance policy will be unaffordable in just a few years should Congress enact the American Health Care Act as proposed.

That's according to Covered California -- the state-operated health insurance marketplace -- that just released a comprehensive analysis of financial assistance available through the current Affordable Care Act -- also known as Obamacare -- as well as a preliminary analysis of how changes proposed in federal law would affect enrollees.

"We are deeply troubled by the (Congressional Budget Office's) finding that the amount of support provided for consumers to buy health insurance in 2020 under proposed legislation would be only 60 percent of what is provided under current law," Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee said.

"While we are still doing an analysis of the aggregate effects of this law on our consumers, the likely effect of basing subsidies on age alone -- rather than considering income and where an individual lives -- is that it will make coverage unaffordable and in many cases, put coverage out of reach," Lee said.

Especially hard hit will be residents of the San Joaquin Valley -- one of the state's poorest regions -- who received Medi-Cal, the state's version of federal Medicaid for the poor and disabled.

Longtime consumer advocate Anthony Wright said the Republican-backed American Health Care Act "goes well beyond repealing the Affordable Care Act and the loss of coverage for millions of Californians by also capping Medi-Cal, which covers a third of our state -- and nearly half of the Central Valley.

"Over 14 million Californians depend on Medi-Cal, which is a fundamental financing pillar of our whole health system," said Wright, executive director of Health Access California.

The 27,848 county residents who enrolled in a Covered California plan in 2016 were subsidized to the tune of $83.2 million. They paid an average monthly premium of $97.13 for health insurance.

Covered California's analysis showed that households around the state received an average tax credit of $5,300 to help pay for the cost of coverage in 2016. And approximately half of enrollees have "Enhanced Silver" plans that give them the additional benefit of cost-sharing reductions that cut their annual out-of-pocket expenses an average $1,500.

"Health insurance can be expensive, and the financial assistance provided through Covered California helps consumers save money and brings that coverage within reach of millions," Lee said.

"As policymakers in Washington consider changes to our health care system, it is important that the impact on real individuals informs the debate in Washington, D.C., because we are seeing that many will be priced out of needed coverage," he said, noting that impacts on individuals will vary greatly.

Lee gave some examples of subsidized Silver plan premiums for individuals -- one in their late 20s and one in their early 60s -- in two major cities under the current Affordable Care Act that considers age, income, family size and location compared with the proposed American Health Care Act that uses aged-based-only subsidies.

In Los Angeles, a 27-year-old earning $17,000 a year would see similar net premiums: $55 per month under the proposed law compared to $52 per month under the current law. However, if that same individual lived in San Francisco, his or her new net premium would be four times higher -- $199 per month -- compared with $52 per month under the current law.

In Los Angeles, a 62-year-old earning $30,000 a year would see his or her net premium increase from $207 per month under the current law to $275 per month under the proposed law. If that person lived in San Francisco, his or her net premium would jump threefold from $209 per month to $668 per month.

"As many independent studies have shown, moving to age-based tax credits will hurt many of our consumers, particularly those older and lower- to middle-income consumers, and price them out of the market," Lee said.

"This would damage our risk mix and lead to higher premiums for everyone in the individual market, even those who do not purchase their insurance through Covered California," he said.

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

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