Washington Health Benefit Exchange interim CEO Jim Crawford issued the following statement regarding today’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes a three-year extension of the enhanced federal premium subsidies currently available to Washingtonians who purchase their health coverage on Washington Healthplanfinder, the state’s online health insurance marketplace. These additional subsidies were first adopted under the American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) of 2021.
“We are incredibly pleased that Washington Healthplanfinder customers will continue to benefit from enhanced federal subsidies through the end of 2025. These subsidies have been a major driver in reducing premium payments for those purchasing health insurance and provide needed relief to those buying and renewing coverage in November for the 2023 plan year, who would have otherwise faced steep premium increases.
Back in 2019, long before the American Rescue Plan passed, I embarked on an ambitious project. I wanted to see what the real-world effects would be of passing a piece of legislation which would eliminate the Affordable Care Act's so-called "Subsidy Cliff" while also strengthening the subsidy formula for those who qualified. Call it "ACA 2.0" for short, if you will (that's what I do, anyway).
This legislation has been around in near-identical form under one official title or another for years, usually bundled within a larger healthcare package. In 2018 it was called the "Undo Sabotage & Expand Affordability of Health Insurance Act of 2018" (or "USEAHIA" which is about as awkward a title as I can imagine.
