In Brief: Rand Says 9.3 Million Have Gained Coverage From ACA
Rand: 9.3 Million Have Gained Insurance Through ACA
Despite the politically motivated back-and-forth dialogue about whether the Affordable Care Act is working, new data by the Rand Corp. concludes that nearly 10 million Americans have gained coverage since open enrollment began last fall.
According to monthly Rand surveys that have taken place since November, the Santa Monica-based think tank concludes that 9.3 million Americans have gained health insurance through ACA-related enrollment via the health insurance exchanges and the expansion of Medicaid eligibility in about half of the states.
Altogether, Rand estimates that 14.5 million Americans who did not have insurance gained coverage, and 5.2 million lost coverage due to their policies being cancelled or for other reasons. That includes 5.4 million who gained Medicaid coverage and about 3.9 million who purchased commercial coverage via the exchanges through late March. Of those who purchased coverage on the exchange, about 1.9 million had no insurance prior; most of the other purchasers previously had individual health plans.
Altogether, the increase in the insured reduced the nation’s rate of uninsured to 15.8% from the previous 20.5%, a rate that was reached in part because of the loss of job-related coverage from the Great Recession.
“Over the coming months and years, further change can be expected as people become more familiar with the law, the individual mandate penalties increase to their highest levels, the employer mandate kicks in, and other changes occur,” according to a post on the Rand website. “But early evidence from our survey indicates that the ACA has already led to a substantial increase in insurance coverage.”
UCSF Childrens Hospitals Receive Second $100 Million Gift
Two Bay Area pediatric hospitals have received a combined gift of $100 million from area philanthropists.
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland will receive the gift from Lynne and Marc Benioff. Marc Benioff founded the business networking site salesforce.com.
“This gift significantly strengthens the abilities of both institutions to attract and retain top talent in pediatric health, as well as to support the next evolution of research and clinical programs,” said Sam Hawgood, M.D., interim chancellor of UC San Francisco.
The Oakland hospital, which affiliated with UCSF earlier this year, will be renamed Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland. The San Francisco campus, which is currently on the UCSF Medical Center Parnassus campus, will relocate next year to a site in Mission Bay as part of a planned expansion of the UCSF Medical Center campus. The new children’s hospital will be expand by 20 beds, to 183 beds in total.
The gift is the second one from the Benioffs. They previously gave UCSF $100 million in 2010 to help build the new pediatric hospital in San Francisco.
