Covered California Deadline is January 31 and Affordable Coverage Available in Santa Clara County

With all of the tech industry layoffs in recent months, even more Santa Clara County residents than normal are being confronted with the need to buy their own health insurance as the new year begins. Luckily, because of past actions by the Obama Administration, state leaders in Sacramento, and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, they are living in one of the best places in the country for purchasing health coverage.

President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, into law in 2010. The state legislature created Covered California to provide Obamacare coverage to Californians. It now serves more than 1.6 million state residents. The open enrollment deadline for Covered California is January 31 while in much of the rest of the country the deadline for enrolling in Obamacare programs is January 15.

Locally, in 2018, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the purchase of O’Connor Hospital in San Jose, St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, and De Paul Health Center in Morgan Hill. These three facilities were added to the county’s already significant public hospital and clinic system that Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. VMC is a world class hospital that includes a Level 1 trauma center and a nationally renowned burn treatment center.

The county’s public hospital and clinic system has given our publicly owned health coverage provider, Valley Health Plan, an unparalleled ability to provide quality health care to residents in every part of Santa Clara County. VHP has the lowest cost on most Covered California plans in Santa Clara County, as well as very competitive costs for residents of San Benito and Monterey counties.

Many laid-off tech workers, and thousands of additional individuals and families in our community, are facing the prospect of not having employer-provided health coverage in 2023. Luckily, because of Obamacare, Covered California, and the investment that the Board of Supervisors made in the public hospitals and clinics, they have an affordable, quality care option in Santa Clara County.