In a press conference today, Blue Shield of California president and CEO Paul Markovich expressed the nonprofit health plan’s strong support for the new financial resources available to healthcare consumers under the American Rescue Plan. The new law lowers healthcare costs for people who enroll in an Affordable Care Act marketplace – such as Covered California, the largest such marketplace in the country. The law increases the amount of financial help currently available to consumers who earn less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). In addition, for the first time, the measure extends federal financial help to consumers who earn more than 400 percent FPL and caps their costs at 8.5 percent of income.
“Blue Shield of California is committed to this effort because it is core to our nonprofit mission to achieve universal healthcare coverage and it is the right thing to do at a time when so many
Californians need that protection,” said Blue Shield’s Paul Markovich. “We’re excited to work with Covered California to reach out to people in every region of the state who need coverage and those who could save money by switching to a similar plan on the Covered California exchange.”
Markovich joined with several other California health care leaders – including top executives from Covered California, Kaiser Permanente, Anthem, Inc., Health Access California, AltaMed Health Services Corporation, and APAC Service Center and Insurance Services – to applaud the new law and provide an overview of how it will benefit the people they serve. Markovich said this new financial support will help bring the cost of coverage back within reach for the many Californians – especially middle-income families – who have felt priced out of coverage in recent years, and added that getting more people insured lowers healthcare costs for everyone.
Blue Shield of California has always been a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act and the Covered California exchange, and in fact is the only health plan serving Covered California members in every ZIP code in every county in the state.
Blue Shield of California enthusiastically supports efforts to ensure all Californians have access to high-quality care at an affordable price and has committed to work with Covered California to reach out to consumers in every region of the state to inform them of their new eligibility for reduced health care costs.
“This is another huge step toward achieving universal coverage for all, and we will never stop advancing toward that goal,” Markovich added.
For more information about Covered California’s approach to expanding access to affordable coverage under the American Rescue Plan, please visit www.CoveredCA.com