Data from a new report has revealed that the California individual health insurance market has grown leaps and bounds since Obamacare went into effect last year – this shouldn’t be too big of a surprise considering the fact that individuals who chose not to purchase health insurance would be penalized by increasingly bigger fees.

Source: iStock.com/kadmy

According to the report, there are roughly 2.2 million Californians that now have individual health insurance – an increase of 64 percent.

As of December 31st, 2014, 843,607 Californians jointed the individual market both on the inside and outside of the Covered California insurance exchange. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the California individual health insurance market along with those of Florida, Georgia and Texas, account for half of the country’s enrollment growth of individual policies. By the end of 2014, a total of 15.5 million people across the country have purchased their own health insurance policy. This is a 46 percent increase from 2013.

While the fact that the Affordable Care Act requires most Americans to pay a penalty if they do not purchase health insurance, another factor in the huge increase in health insurance purchases is the fact that everyone in the country is guaranteed coverage regardless of what their medical conditions are. The act also provides financial subsidies to lower-income consumers.

Roughly 50 percent of California residents get their health benefits through their employer; however, the percentage of California businesses that provide coverage to employees has been decreasing. Only 58 percent of the state’s employers offered employees coverage in 2014, while almost 69 percent had offered coverage back in 2010.

Around 1.4 million people are currently enrolled in the Covered California exchange. For more information or advice about purchasing health insurance in California, be sure to contact us at the Benefits Store today.