- The American Rescue Plan aims to make health insurance more affordable for people hard-hit by the pandemic.
- The provisions include an expansion of Affordable Care Act subsidies, new COBRA subsidies, and additional Medicaid coverage.
- For now, these new provisions are temporary, but they could become permanent if they’re popular.
The extended unemployment benefits and $1,400 direct payments that are part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 signed into law by President Biden on March 11 have gained much attention.
But the new law contains several other provisions aimed at making health insurance more affordable for millions of people with lower and moderate incomes, as well as helping people without insurance get insured.
“The American Rescue Plan is the biggest step to reducing the number of uninsured Americans since the Affordable Care Act,” said Deb Gordon, author of “The Health Care Consumer’s Manifesto: How to Get the Most for Your Money.”
“Covering more uninsured is so important when millions of Americans have lost their jobs, wages, and coverage due to the pandemic,” she said.
For now, these provisions are temporary, but they include an expansion of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, new COBRA subsidies, relief from the premium tax credit clawback, and additional Medicaid coverage.
Source: healthline