Covered California was joined by Secretary Xavier Becerra of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday Oct. 29 at the historic California State Library in Sacramento to help kick off the 2025 open-enrollment period. Covered California is also launching its “Let’s Talk Health” health literacy campaign. Open enrollment — which begins on Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 31, 2025 — is when Californians can sign up for, renew or shop for a new health insurance plan.
This is the 12th open-enrollment period under Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which has helped provide health insurance to tens of millions of Americans. Currently, over 21 million people across the country are currently insured through an Affordable Care Act health plan.
In California, over 5.9 million Californians have had health insurance through Covered California since the exchange opened its doors in 2014, including a record-high nearly 1.8 million who are currently enrolled.
In 2025, all eligible Californians will benefit from increased and expanded financial help to make the cost of coverage and accessing care even more affordable, thanks to an enhanced cost-sharing reduction program.
“In California, we are maximizing the Affordable Care Act by providing greater access to coverage and quality care to more Californians,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “Reducing out-of-pocket costs for millions of Californians is an important step in creating a healthier California for all.”
Because of the enhanced federal premium support, California’s cost-sharing reduction program and eligibility for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to enroll in coverage, more Californians than ever will have access to the most financial assistance ever offered through Covered California.
California’s cost-sharing reduction program has been bolstered for 2025 by Gov. Newsom and the California Legislature, increasing the amount of state funds available for it to $165 million. As a result, all Californians with incomes above 200 percent of the federal poverty level (which is $30,120 for a single person and $62,400 for a family of four) are now eligible to enroll in an Enhanced Silver 73 plan with no deductibles and reduced out-of-pocket costs, while those under 200 percent of the federal poverty level will continue to have access to higher levels of benefits.
In 2024, the program lowered generic drug costs and copays for medical visits and reduced other out-of-pocket costs for over 800,000 Covered California consumers, and now these benefits are available to all enrollees above 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
“With California’s enhanced cost-sharing reduction program, many of our consumers will have more affordable choices, and they should shop and compare to choose the plan that is best for them and their families,” said Covered California Executive Director Jessica Altman. “We also want every uninsured Californian to know that we’re working to make health care more affordable and easier to navigate. This change will further reduce financial barriers to accessing health care and simplify the process of shopping for health insurance.”
Open enrollment begins with a record-low uninsured rate of 6.4 percent among Californians, according to federal data. Since Covered California’s first open-enrollment period in 2013, California’s uninsured rate has fallen from 17.2 percent to 6.4 percent in 2023, which is the largest percentage point drop for any state in the nation during the Affordable Care Act era.
Californians continue to sign up for coverage at a historic rate. In the greater Sacramento area and the San Joaquin Valley, enrollment is up 10 percent in the past four years, with over 183,000 Californians now enrolled in these regions.
But the latest data from the California Simulation of Insurance Markets (CalSIM), a model created by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, also shows that significant gaps remain between those with and without insurance. CalSIM estimates that there are nearly 1.3 million uninsured Californians who either qualify for subsidies through Covered California (591,000) or are eligible for Medi-Cal coverage (675,000), and they reside all over the state.
If they sign up for coverage, the subsidy-eligible 591,000 uninsured Californians can receive significant financial help that will lower the cost of their monthly health insurance premiums.
Covered California research shows that 23 percent of current consumers will have a $0 monthly premium in 2025 if they keep their current plan, a jump from 20 percent this year. Nearly 90 percent of Covered California’s enrollees receive financial help. Currently, two-thirds of Covered California’s consumers are eligible for comprehensive health insurance at a cost of $10 or less per month, and nearly half could get a comprehensive Silver plan for that price.
Research shows that many Californians don’t understand what Covered California actually does, how health insurance works or how to maximize their plan benefits. This lack of health literacy can contribute to individuals not signing up for health care coverage.
To promote health literacy and provide consumers with more information, Covered California’s “Let’s Talk Health” campaign includes a suite of new materials that reflect cultural insights and more simplified language to demystify health insurance and provide information to consumers who have questions about the basics. Through a partnership with health literacy expert Dr. Dean-David Schillinger of University of California, San Francisco, Covered California is maximizing evidence-based approaches to support consumer education.
Covered California is powering the campaign and expanding the reach of its new educational resources through a partnership with the California State Library and local libraries across California. Libraries will house newly created in-language and culturally resonant resources and host educational workshops for consumers to ask questions, learn about health insurance as well as the difference between Medi-Cal, Covered California and other insurance options.
“California libraries are community anchors that provide information, programs and community connections to millions of people of all ages,” said California State Librarian Greg Lucas. “On behalf of the state’s 1,027 local libraries, the State Library looks forward to working with Covered California to connect consumers with the resources and pathways they need to find the right health coverage.”
Consumers can learn more about their options by visiting CoveredCA.com, where they can easily find out if they qualify for financial help and see the coverage options in their area.
The deadline to select a health plan and have coverage for all of 2025 is Dec. 31.
