How Changes to ACA May Affect Your Premiums
If you haven’t followed the latest news on the Affordable Care Act, I don’t blame you. This morning, the Washington Post ran an article titled “ The White House Has A Health Plan Better or Worse than Obamacare,” and it’s not even an April Fool’s headline.
So. What do we know?
- The Justice Department filed briefing last Monday that it agreed with a Texas judge who had previously argued that the ACA was unconstitutional and should be overturned .
- House Democrats on Tuesday introduced legislation that they hope will strengthen the Affordable Care Act, cut insurance premiums and allow more Americans to get health care. (No, they didn’t write this invoice overnight; it’s been in development for a while.)
- Yesterday, two Trump advisers said they also have a health plan in case the ACA is found unconstitutional. We don’t know much about this plan, except that it will continue to protect people in pre-existing conditions.
If you’re an ACA member and you’re wondering how the Democratic bill could save you money, Vox has an explanation :
Currently, people in 150 percent of the federal poverty line ($ 18,000 per person, $ 31,000 for a family of three) must pay up to 4 percent of their income on health insurance purchased through Obamacare. According to the bill on Democrats, they will pay no more than 2 percent. For a family whose poverty rate is 300 percent, they currently have to pay 10 percent of income in insurance premiums; according to the Democratic Party’s proposal, they would have to pay no more than 7 percent.
But more importantly, the Democratic proposal lifts Obamacare’s existing restrictions on who is eligible for tax subsidies. Right now, people earning more than 400 percent of poverty ($ 48,500 per person, $ 83,000 for a family of three) are not eligible for any federal assistance.
Health analyst Charles Gaba has done the work of figuring out how exactly people’s premiums can change by age and income level with the House of Demos bill, so check out his charts to see how much money you’ll save each month if needed. … the bill becomes law.
Though I wouldn’t count on it anytime soon. Right now, the best health advice I can give is the old “watch and wait” phrase. Stay tuned for the news if you like (or avoid it if you like) and trust that if anything serious happens to the ACA in the near future, you will find out.