With 43,000 Uninsured Locally, Covered California Ready to (En)roll

Some 30,000 insurance agents and advisers will be traversing the state over the next three months aiming to get more Californians enrolled in health care plans.

About 1.3 million people in the state are already enrolled in plans through Covered California, the state insurance exchange created by the U.S. Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. 

But there are still 2.2 million uninsured people in the state who are eligible either for Medi-Cal coverage or subsidized plans through Covered California.

In the tri-county region (Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties) there are 43,000 remaining uninsured; of those, about 15,000 are eligible for subsidized plans on the exchange, and 28,000 are eligible for Medi-Cal, according to Covered California spokesman Larry Hicks. 

Reps from the exchange are trying to get the uninsured on board across the state.

"There is still an opportunity for them to gain coverage and peace of mind of having insurance," Hicks says.

"Other than just holding an insurance card, this is a means to get actual care. That's the message we will be driving home throughout this open enrollment." 

The enrollment period started Nov. 1, and runs through Jan. 31, 2016; for people who are already insured and want to change plans, the deadline is Dec. 15. 

Monterey County just launched a plan to provide some limited coverage of prescription, lab and radiology expenses for patients who are still uninsured even with Obamacare, specifically undocumented immigrants.