Legislation approved by California's Senate would provide low-income state residents with health coverage for as little as $30 a month.

The measure allows for the creation of a Basic Health Plan, which would provide coverage to more than 720,000 qualifying uninsured California residents, according to estimates.

The law, SB 703, authored by Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), would provide health care coverage for monthly payments that are lower than any other option under the federal health care law.

The basic health plan would be available in 2014, which is in line with a health reform provision that allows states to create state-administered, federally financed health plans for low-income individuals.

"California's leaders recognize the importance of this opportunity to set an example for the nation and enact a Basic Health Plan that will provide comprehensive, high-quality health plans to low-income residents," said John Ramey, Executive Director, Local Health Plans of California. "This is an opportunity for three quarters of a million California residents to receive the health care they need and deserve."

According to a statement, the BHP will offer "equal to or better benefits available in the state health benefit exchange – but for less cost and exclusively for individuals with incomes between 133% and 200% of the federal poverty level. These are individuals that will be required by the federal law to buy insurance but who may have difficulty being able to afford the price of a policy offered by the exchange."

To finance the BHP, California will receive 95 percent of the federal money that otherwise would have been used for subsidies for the Exchange.

California has the largest total number of people without insurance—6.8 million— according to a December 2010 Employee Benefit Research Institute report.

Over the past two decades, California has seen a surge in the percentage of uninsured, as employer-sponsored coverage has decreased. Between 1987 and 2009, the segment of the non-elderly population covered by insurance provided through an employer continued to slide from 65 percent to 52 percent.

Although increases in Medicaid coverage partially offset the decline, EBRI said, more than 20 percent of Californians remain uninsured.

Instant Insights /

Calif. Senate approves basic health plan for low-income residents

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