Hawthorne Press Tribune
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 61, No. 40 - October 3, 2019
HPD Hosts a BBQ for Veterans
Last weekend, Chief Ishii, Capt. Royer and the Hawthorne Police Department hosted Wounded Heroes of America for a BBQ at the police station. Photo: Wounded Heroes of America
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South Bay Health Plans Should
Be More Affordable by Next Year
By Rob McCarthy
Covered California has announced that
South Bay residents who buy their health
insurance through the state’s health care
exchange have more to look forward to in
2020, including new financial assistance
and bargains because of increased competition.
Anthem Blue Cross is expanding into
southwest Los Angeles County next year,
giving residents a choice of 10 health plans
for themselves and their families. While
enrollment for 2020 won’t begin until Nov.
1, consumers are encouraged to shop and
compare now among the health plans. The
coverage limits, co-pays and monthly premiums
are listed at the Covered California
website, www.coveredca.com.
Out-of-pocket monthly premiums next year
should drop by 9 percent for people willing
to switch their health plans to the best value,
the exchange says. For those who choose not
to change, their monthly premium will stay
nearly identical to what they’re paying now.
That’s the smallest increase since Covered
California opened in 2014.
For the first time, middle-income families
shut out of premium assistance from the government
will get some financial assistance.
The funding from Sacramento is intended to
help those families whose health costs actually
increased once Obamacare was launched.
Subsidies have been a popular feature of the
consumer health care law from the beginning.
Low-income residents pay as little as $1 per
month for a plan.
Dec. 15 is the deadline to enroll in a plan
and be insured on Jan. 1. California extends
the deadline every year to Jan. 15 for Californians
to avoid a penalty, though their plans
don’t take effect until Feb. 1. And yes, there
still is a penalty for non-compliance.
Despite changes by Congress that weakened
the Affordable Care Act, the state will penalize
a person up to $695 and a family $2,100
for failing to meet the January enrollment
deadline. The state mandate requiring that all
residents be covered by a private or government
health plan is new, and will be enforced
by the Franchise Tax Board. It replaces the
federal individual mandate, which Congress
eliminated at the end of 2017.
The Affordable Care Act remains the law
of the land. Congress repealed the penalty
at the heart of the Affordable Care Act, also
known as Obamacare. Congress repealed
the penalty when it approved the federal tax
code overhaul at the end of 2017. Texas has
challenged the law in federal court, arguing
without a penalty the law isn’t valid anymore.
Employer-sponsored health plans and
federal Medicare enrollees aren’t affected by
See South Bay Health, page 5
The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne