Press Releases

Congressman Salud Carbajal joined officials from the Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health to encourage Central Coast residents to take advantage of the open enrollment period for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace, which is open now through January 31.

Congressman Carbajal highlighted where his work on health care affordability legislation last year is saving the average Central Coast resident more than $1,000 on premiums through the Covered California marketplace this year.

“This year marks the tenth year that ACA plans have been available since the law was created by President Obama and Democrats in Congress – and I am proud to share that coverage through this marketplace has never been more affordable, thanks to the work my colleagues and I have been doing in Congress,” said Rep. Carbajal. “We passed laws that boosted and extended subsidies that have lowered premiums for middle class families and working class families – part of our goal of ensuring that every American has access to affordable, quality health care.”

Last year, Rep. Carbajal helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act to lower the cost of health care plans on the ACA marketplace.

According to estimates from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, because of that law the average enrollee on the Central Coast will save $1,150 in premiums this year.

In 2023, there were 41,000 residents in California’s 24^th Congressional District, which covers all of Santa Barbara County and portions of San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, enrolled in a plan through Covered California.

More on the projected savings provided by Carbajal’s work last year can be found here.

“Thank you to Congressman Carbajal and our Federal Partners supporting our health care centers,” Dana Gamble, Deputy Director of Primary Care and Family Health Division for the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. “The Affordable Care Act has had a huge impact on access to care at our health care centers. In 2013, the year before the start of Covered California, our health care centers served more than 14,000 uninsured patients who had to pay out of pocket for care and only 8,000 patients had Medi-Cal as their insurance coverage. Last year in 2022 the number of uninsured dropped to 4,000 while 16,000 patients were covered by Medi-Cal.”

The support provided by Carbajal and his colleagues in Congress this past term has brought the number of uninsured Americans to the lowest point in recorded history: 8% in 2022.

The total number receiving health insurance through an ACA marketplace reached a record high of 16.4 million in 2023.

“Every year these plans have helped more and more people, and people are seeing these plans become better and better for their bottom line,” said Rep. Carbajal. “I know there is plenty more to do to achieve our goal of ensuring that every American has access to affordable quality health care, but these steps we have taken in the past year are showing that we are on the right track.”

Central Coast residents can sign up for a new health plan through Covered California anytime between now and January 31.

For coverage guaranteed to begin on January 1, the deadline is December 15.

Sign ups can be done through CoveredCA.com or through one of the Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health’s health centers.

Coverage information in Spanish can be found at CoveredCA.com/espanol/