14.5 million Americans use the program that Republicans ran hard against, threating repeal, but ended up backing down after being on the wrong end of the public acceptance of the program’s help for them…
Sign-ups reached an all-time high last year with roughly 14.5 million Americans buying plans through the health law’s insurance exchanges. Congressional Democrats extended financial aid for making health coverage more affordable for millions of people in their health and climate bill passed this summer, in the hopes of further bringing down the nation’s uninsured rate.
President Biden has centered his health agenda around lowering the pricey cost of care and building on the Affordable Care Act, raising the stakes for each enrollment period.
Here are three things to know about the sign-up season beginning Tuesday:
1. Prices are rising 4 percent, but the impact will be minimal for many Americans.
Next year’s monthly premiums will average roughly $456 before accounting for tax credits that help Americans afford their plans. That’s compared with this year’s average premium of $438, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
But most Americans are actually paying a much lower price. Last year, Democrats’ coronavirus relief package boosted tax credits for low-income Obamacare shoppers and granted them to middle-income Americans for the first time.
The extra financial aid was set to run out at the end of this year. But after months of pleading from ACA supporters, Democrats passed their spending package, which included a three-year extension of the enhanced financial aid for roughly 13 million Americans buying coverage through the exchanges….
image….Business Insider