The Bay Area is a cradle of environmentalism and a region with a rich trove of health and medical research and resources. In this blog, we’ll report on the deepening understanding of how the places we inhabit and the lifestyles we adopt contribute to our own health and the health of our communities.
Between 1.7 and 3 million uninsured, low-income Californians will become eligible for coverage under Medi-Cal in 2014, when federal health care reforms take effect, according to a report released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California.
This group is relatively young and may be even healthier than many people who are currently on Medi-Cal, making them no more expensive to insure, the report found.
But the costs of expanding coverage can only be controlled if "a culture of coverage" emerges -- "one in which health insurance is expected, maintained, and ultimately valued because the result is consistent, timely access to quality care," the study concluded.
The expansions are just one component of federal health care reform, which researchers say will increase health care spending slightly. The reforms will raise the qualifying income level for Medicaid (which is known as Medi-Cal in California) from 100 percent of the federal poverty level to 138 percent, or about $31,000 for a family of four.
© The Bay Citizen, 2012
