Covered California officials on Tuesday will provide a snapshot of the latest insurance enrollment numbers, the officials said Monday.
Last March 276,350 Bay Area residents enrolled in Covered California, which offers discounts to some state residents on brand-name health insurance and where others can sign up for Medi-Cal, the state's Medcaid program.
About 1.4 million people statewide enrolled in Covered California last March. The new numbers may be up 20 percent over last year, a Covered California spokesman said recently.
“We've seen significant interest in enrollment” in this enrollment period, which ended Jan. 31, Covered California spokesman James Scullary said.
Last year was a down year because no penalty existed for people who did not have insurance, he said.
But state legislators enacted a law that took effect Jan. 1 that requires most California residents to have insurance or face a penalty at tax time. No penalty exists at the federal level anymore.
Scullary said the penalty provides an economic “nudge” for people to get insurance.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.