Affordable Care Act Enrollments Way Up

In the year since the Affordable Care Act went into effect, 34,000 county residents have enrolled in MediCal and another 16,000 have become insured through Covered California. Those figures were among the tidbits presented by county health officials to the Board of Supervisors this week. Overall impressions of the federal law were positive, but some concerns remain. Starting in 2017, the state and/or counties will have to provide a 5 percent match; the federal government is currently footing the bill. Another question hovers around how undocumented immigrants (who don’t qualify for coverage) and those who choose not to enroll will affect costs to Public Health.