Gov. Newsom Touts $10/Mo Covered California Plans

Ninety percent of the Californians in the plan receive financial assistance.

Gov. Gavin Newsom says that one million uninsured Californians could gain coverage in 2023 for as little as $10 a month through Covered California, the state's Affordable Care Act marketplace.

Two-thirds of the 1.7 million enrollees already are eligible for the low-cost coverage and some can get free coverage. Ninety percent of the Californians in the plan receive financial assistance.

"Millions of Californians now have access to affordable health coverage and now is the time to go sign up for health insurance to keep yourself and your family healthy," Newsom says. "We won't stop until every Californian – regardless of income or immigration status – has the health insurance they need and deserve."

According to Newsom, California leads the nation in lowering healthcare costs and improving access.

Other cost-reduction actions claimed by Newsom include:

• Working with an outside partner to manufacture low-cost insulin, to reduce the cost of this life-saving medication, particularly for those who lack coverage for prescription drugs or who have a high level of cost sharing.
   
• Negotiating prescription drug prices and lowering costs. Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation executive order to create the largest single purchaser for prescription drugs.
   
• Expanding Medi-Cal to all income-eligible, undocumented Californians. By January 2024, all low-income Californians will be eligible for no-cost comprehensive healthcare coverage.
   
• Eliminating Medi-Cal premiums for hundreds of thousands of Californians while improving quality and access. That includes reducing to zero the financial burden for approximately 500,000 pregnant women, children, and disabled working adult Medi-Cal enrollees.
   
• Transforming Medi-Cal through CalAIM to provide better outcomes, expand access to services, and reduce disparities.
   
• Opening the Office of Health Care Affordability to address underlying cost drivers and improve the affordability of health coverage.