Millions Could Spend Less Than $100 per Month on ACA Coverage
Roughly half of the nearly 23 million uninsured U.S. residents who are expected to be eligible for coverage through the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges will have access to plans with monthly premiums costing less than $100, according to an HHS report released Tuesday, Politico reports (Cheney, Politico, 9/18).
About 4.3 million of those individuals might be able to pay $100 or less per month because of the premium tax credits that will be available to them to offset the cost of the plans, particularly the lowest-cost "bronze" plans (Goddard, "Wonk Wire," CQ Roll Call, 9/17).
The report also found that an additional 9.2 million residents would have access to coverage for under $100 per month if all 50 states decided to expand Medicaid under the ACA. According to Politico, the report assumes that 25 states will expand Medicaid, including states like Arkansas and Iowa that are seeking federal approval for alternative expansion plans (Politico, 9/18).
For the report, HHS analysts used Census Bureau data to estimate the number of families that would be eligible for ACA tax credits (Viebeck, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 9/17). The report also was crafted on the assumptions that insurance premiums posted in states that are operating their own exchanges are representative of premiums across the country, even though rates in most of the 33 states with federally run exchanges have not been announced.
The analysis also did not include the number of undocumented immigrants who are not eligible for ACA coverage and are expected to remain uninsured, according to Politico (Politico, 9/17).
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