Coronavirus and the Affordable Care Act
Obama and Trump were not the only presidents to make changes to the ACA and healthcare in America. When Biden was sworn in, he faced an unprecedented challenge sweeping through the country, the pandemic. The coronavirus changed nearly every person’s life on the planet, and American citizens were dealing with mass layoffs and the inability to pay for basic necessities like rent and healthcare. While the stimulus packages they were dispersed helped many families, they didn’t address health care issues.
The American Rescue Plan Act
Passed in 2021 by Biden, this act created higher income limits for health insurance subsidies, allowing those that fell above the 400% poverty line to qualify for subsidies they would have once been denied. The act also increased the subsidies for those who already qualified before COVID-19. In plain language, this meant that the majority of those using the marketplace automatically qualified for lower premiums, and those who didn’t previously qualify had the opportunity to lower their premiums as well. However, this plan only offered these changes for two years, with the act phasing out in 2022.
The Inflation Reduction Act
With America still struggling to recover from the many unexpected changes caused by the pandemic, Biden decided to give everyone a little bit more time to rebuild their bank accounts. The Inflation Reduction Act did many things, but it also extended the increase in subsidies made by the American Rescue Plan through 2025. That’s an additional three years for citizens to take advantage of the lower healthcare premiums offered on the marketplace.
Will Anything Else Change?
While not a permanent change, the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act had positive effects on health care access to the majority of American citizens who chose to use the marketplace to obtain coverage. While there are likely to be changes in the future, Americans can be confident that at least until 2025, their health care needs are more accessible and more affordable.
