Experts believe California's healthcare marketplace is mostly insulated from President Donald Trump's decision to end subsidies that cover out-of-pocket medical costs for lower-income people.
The so-called cost-sharing subsidies cover 670,000 lower-income Californians, but the 11 insurance companies doing business on Covered California are still legally obligated to provide the discounts, reports NBC4 media partner KPCC.
"They have figured out a way to build the premiums and instruct insurance carriers to cushion the blow for their enrollees and make sure that it's still affordable to purchase coverage," said UCLA Center for Health Policy Research professor Dylan Roby.
The real risk to the state's individual market consumers will be the confusion that Trump's action will cause about the state of health insurance, Roby and others believe. Due to that confusion, it's important for people to comparison shop when open enrollment begins on Nov. 1, they said.
"Shopping around is more important this year than ever," said Consumers Union special projects director Betsy Imholz.
