Currently, there are only three exceptions under which someone can buy a plan through Covered California outside of the open enrollment period: getting married, losing employer-provided insurance, or giving birth.
A bill approved by the state Assembly would add pregnancy to that list.
Opponents say allowing people to wait until they need insurance to buy it defeats the purpose of the Affordable Care Act.
Christina Postolowski, health policy manager with the nonprofit Young Invincibles, said that's true up to a point.
“However, we also know that 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned, and there may be some people who are insured, but are on a plan that doesn’t cover comprehensive maternity coverage," she said.
Unlike Covered California, the Medi-Cal program allows women to enroll when they're pregnant.
The measure to change Covered California's policy now moves onto the state senate.
