Katie Adams | March 16th, 2021
The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package President Joe Biden recently signed into law expands the subsidies available under the Affordable Care Act for comprehensive health insurance, according to a March 10 report from The New York Times.
The American Rescue Plan increases subsidies for Americans who are already eligible for the Affordable Care Act and offers new aid for those who were previously ineligible because their incomes were deemed too high. Most Americans who purchase their own health insurance are now eligible for a discount, according to the Times.
Americans who earn around $19,000 a year will now be able to sign up for a typical plan with no monthly payment. Those earning more than $51,000 a year could be offered premiums discounted by as much as $1,000 a month in the country’s most costly markets.
“What this law will do is make it so the majority of uninsured citizens are eligible for free or low-cost coverage,” Cynthia Cox, a vice president at Kaiser Family Foundation, told the Times. “This won’t bring us to universal health care, but it will bring us closer to universal eligibility for subsidized health insurance — for two years.”
Source: Becker’s