SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California’s uninsured rate ticked down in 2017.
Figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that 7.2 percent of Californians lacked health insurance last year. That’s down from 7.3 percent in 2016.
The national uninsured rate was 8.8 percent.
California has embraced former President Barack Obama’s health care law and the state Medi-Cal program now covers one in three residents. The state has also expanded Medi-Cal to young people with low incomes who are living in the country illegally.
Many of the state’s remaining uninsured people are not eligible for publicly funded health care because they’re living in the country illegally. Others do not get an employer-sponsored health plan but don’t make enough to qualify for large subsidies under Obama’s health care law.
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