Question: What is the percentage of California (legal) residents who earn between 133% and 400% over the National Poverty Level, and will thereby qualify for premium-subsidies to help them buy health insurance? Hopefully, it’s a very large percentage, because health insurance premiums are scheduled to increase significantly on January 1, 2014.

Answer: As of 2014, about 2.6 million Californians will qualify for federal premium subsidies. That’s a small percentage of the population of California - about 37 million. That’s because most are covered by employer-sponsored plans. It is estimated that approximately 45% of those currently insured by individual health insurance will be eligible for subsidies.