In yesterday’s post, Mai Naem Mobile made the following comment:
I believe my plan is about the same price. Anyway, what surprised me is I supposedly qualify for a subsidy. Did they change the income levels for a subsidy? I’ve never qualified for a subsidy and nothing has changed except for my age. I even increased the income to see if that would get rid of the subsidy and it didn’t.
This is the American Rescue Plan in action.
There were two major temporary policy changes in the ARP that passed in March. The first was to decrease the expected percentage a household earning between 100% to 400% Federal Poverty Level would have to pay for the benchmark premium. This varied by income, but for someone earning 150% FPL (~$19,000 for a single individual) they went from paying 2% of household income to 0% for the benchmark plan. Higher earners saw between 1.4% to 2% reduction in expected income contribution.
The second and more relevant fix for Mai Naem is that the ARP eliminated the income cap for subsidy eligibility. Under the original ACA, individuals who earn over 400% FPL (single individual ~$50,000) were completely ineligible for subsidies. The ARP removed that income cap. Individuals earning over 400% FPL now pay 8.5% of their income for premiums. As incomes increase and ages decrease, some people will still not qualify for subsidies, but as people get older, they are more likely to qualify for some subsidy which will make their current plan cheaper and potentially increase the value proposition of lower cost plans as well.
Both of these provisions are for the 2021 and 2022 plan years. Extending or making these provisions permanent are part of the reconciliation package currently under construction. Call your senators if you want these policies to continue.
Betty
Isn’t it sad that most people don’t know this? The most accurate critique of Democrats is failing to ensure they get credit for the good things they do. MSM could help, but they have other priorities.
narya
A tiny bit of good news, though maybe only in blue states: the primary health care association applied for and received a pile of federal money to help health centers train and certify and then report on the activities of bunches of benefits navigators/insurance enrollment assistance folks. This was in place early in ACA, then faded; glad it’s back! And, for anyone who needs to know this, these certified folks–often findable at your local FQHC–will help you enroll regardless of whether you’re a patient at the health center. In our case, they’re all bilingual, too, and that’s not uncommon.
Triumph
My premium for about a $360ish/month bronze plan last year after subsidy was originally about $130, then it went down to $26 after the extra funds from the ACA kicked in, and now it looks like my share of the premium for around the same plan will be $65 or so, with the total cost of the plan being roughly the same. So it’s kinda all over the place. Fun times!
Mai Naem mobile
@Betty: i wonder how many additional people would get the ACA coverage if they knew they were going to get subsidies. I personally know a couple of people in my little world who don’t bother because its for them its too expensive without subsidies. I am going to let them both know but the Biden folks should be advertising this all over.
Fake Irishman
@Mai Naem mobile:
the good news is that all the outreach programs that Trump’s HHS neutered or shut down are back up and running. And sign ups are up. So the combination of increased subsidies and outreach are having a large positive effect.
Carolyn K Crews
My question is when things change in the White House will the subsidies change? Shopping for insurance is awful.
David Anderson
@Carolyn K Crews: Subsidies are set by law. So it really depends on what can pass Congress and get a signature.
This week we will find out if these subsidies are extended or made permanent.
There is administrative action on enforcement of single risk pool and fixing risk adjustment that could also boost subsidies for 100-400% FPLers if no law is passed to fund extension of income eligibility for subsidies.
Leumas
It is a great fix, which I hope is made permanent. A good number of people will
be pleasantly surprised when they file taxes for 2021, although the calculations
are tedious.