Affordable Care Act may leave some uninsured

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Two hundred sixty-six. That's the number of days left until the Affordable Health Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," kicks in on January 1, 2014.

The Los Angeles County Coalition for Women and Health Reform hosted what it called a "health reform community dialogue" at the Galen Center this morning. Organizations like Planned Parenthood and Black Women for Wellness make up the coalition.

"We want to make sure that as the Affordable Care Act rolls out, that enrollment and care is provided in a way that is easily accessible so we can meet the goal of health care reform," said Serena Josel, director of public affairs at Planned Parenthood.

The reforms will make breast cancer screenings free and provide contraceptives and other types of reproductive care for women.

But many people are worried about those who still won't have coverage after the act goes into effect.

"It will leave some three million people uninsured," said Daniel Zingale, senior Vice President of the California Endowment.

Zingale said most of those people would be legal residents, but about one million of those left uninsured would be people who are undocumented. 

Many of those legal residents, Zingale said, just don't have access to the information they need to take advantage of insurance.

"People underestimate how hard it is to reach people in a state our size," he said. "We have a pretty poor track record of raising awareness, outreach, and enrolling people in programs.

Leaders of today's event hope California outreach programs and organizations can help to improve that track record.