Open enrollment for Covered California began Friday as the state encouraged Californians to sign up or renew a health insurance plan through Jan. 31, 2025.
For the first time, the health insurance marketplace has expanded its eligibility to include Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients thanks to increased federal support.
The state estimates about 40,000 DACA recipients will be eligible for coverage.
The enhanced federal support also allows the state to cover a with an income above 200% of the state's poverty level, according to the state.
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Californians under 200% will continue to have access to higher levels of coverage.
Also, new for this year is the “Let’s Health Talk” campaign in partnership with health literacy expert Dr. Dean-David Schillinger of University of California, San Francisco.
Researchers say many Californians don’t understand what Covered California actually does or how health insurance works, and the lack of health literacy is what primarily contributes to individuals not signing up for health care coverage.
Only 6.4% of Californians (roughly 1.3 million people) are currently uninsured, a statewide low.
In Southern California, there are approximately 632,000 uninsured Californians who are eligible for Covered California subsidies or no-cost Medi-Cal coverage.
To help approximately 2 million Californians with limited English proficiency, the new “Let’s Talk Health” website can be accessed in English, Spanish, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Korean, Vietnamese and Farsi to answer questions and guide consumers through the process of buying insurance.
In 2024, Covered California lowered generic drug costs and copays for medical visits and reduced other out-of-pocket costs for over 800,000 Covered California consumers, according to state officials.
Roughly 1.8 million Californians have insurance through Covered California.
See how to enroll here.
