Health care is here in California

As the Affordable Care Act moves closer into implementation this October, it’s worth remembering that “Obamacare” has already saved American consumers more than $1.2 billion simply by limiting the amount that insurance companies can charge for administrative services.

That’s it. Right off the top.

It’s not a perfect system. No system is—even the gold-standard universal single-payer system that we hold as an ideal. Given how entrenched insurance companies have become in our health-care system, though, this is undoubtedly the fastest way to get health care to people who have been excluded from services because they couldn’t afford insurance.

Already, we’re seeing results: young people who can stay on their parents’ insurance until they can afford their own, and people with pre-existing conditions able to purchase health insurance.

But Covered California will spend the next three months enrolling a large number of uninsured Californians into programs. Even those who have health insurance through their employer will benefit in the long run, as having more insured people reduces the number of uninsured patients that must be paid for out of public funds.

Visit the Covered California website at www.coveredca.com. Find out what’s available. Take advantage of it. It’s taken a great deal of work, but access to health insurance is finally available to everyone.