About 30,000 people in Santa Barbara County are newly insured through Medi-Cal since the Affordable Care Act took effect, bringing the total number of recipients to about 106,000, or roughly one fourth of the county. In California, families of four living on $33,465 or less now qualify for the state health-care program, and the amount of people uninsured nationwide has dropped considerably.
But how will the government pay for such expanded access? That was one big unanswered question posed last week by a handful of area health officials during a Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care-sponsored forum at the DoubleTree Resort.
One purpose of the Affordable Care Act was to increase preventative treatment, freeing up emergency rooms that have long been bursting at the seams. Since 2012, however, Santa Barbara ER visits have increased by about 1,400 patients every year. Just last year, the ER in Goleta saw a 12-14 percent uptick, and Santa Ynez’s hospital ER saw an 11 percent hike.