The Inflation Reduction Act extends the increased financial help initially provided by the American Rescue Plan through the end of 2025.
The increased subsidies expanded health care coverage, leading to record enrollment in California and across the nation, and lowered insurance costs for people who signed up through an Affordable Care Act marketplace.
The landmark legislation will continue to make coverage more affordable at a time when many individuals and families are facing increased challenges in the current economic environment.
For years, consumer advocates and some legislators have been battling to rein in escalating health care costs. Now the state has created a new agency to limit future growth in health care costs — and it will have the power to enforce that mandate.
...In California and nationally, the most cited reason for people being uninsured or underinsured is cost. Even those with robust insurance sometimes struggle to afford hospital bills and their medication. Some take extreme measures, such as rationing their dosages or traveling south of the border for more affordable care. Half of Californians skipped or postponed medical care in 2021 because of costs, according to a California Health Care Foundation report.
...The recently approved state budget includes $30 million to create the office, whose key responsibility will be to set and enforce limits on cost growth for the industry, including hospitals, health insurers and physician groups.
Covered California Announces 2023 Plan Rates: Lower Than National Average Amid Uncertain Future of American Rescue Plan Benefits
California’s individual market will see a preliminary rate increase of 6 percent in 2023, due in part to the return of normal medical trends that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertain future of the American Rescue Plan.
Despite the uncertainty, the rate change is below the national average thanks to Covered California’s 1.7 million enrollees and the state’s healthy consumer pool, which remains among the best in the nation.
Covered California also announced that a 13th carrier would join the marketplace, and an existing carrier would expand to become the second one to offer statewide coverage.
All Californians will have two or more choice of carriers, 93 percent will be able to choose from three or more, and 81 percent will have four or more choices.
With Congress scheduled to recess at the end of July, and health insurance marketplaces finalizing their rates for the 2023 coverage year, timely action to decide on the future of the American Rescue Plan’s benefits is critical.
The law, which provides increased and expanded federal financial assistance and helped millions of Americans sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, is set to expire at the end of this year.
An estimated 220,000 Californians could become uninsured, with premiums doubling for 1 million low-income consumers.
Middle-income consumers would lose all federal financial help, and their premiums would increase by an average of $272 per month if Congress does not act to extend the law.
States will have an additional year to use American Rescue Plan funds to strengthen the home care workforce and expand access to services
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is notifying states that they now have an additional year — through March 31, 2025 — to use funding made available by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to enhance, expand, and strengthen home- and community-based services (HCBS) for people with Medicaid who need long-term services and supports. This policy update marks the latest action by the Biden-Harris Administration to strengthen the health care workforce, help people receive care in the setting of their choice, and reduce unnecessary reliance on institutional care.
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved California, Florida, Kentucky, and Oregon actions to expand Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage to 12 months postpartum for a total of an additional 126,000 families across their states, annually—supporting 57,000; 52,000; 10,000; and 7,000 parents, respectively.
The final Senate compromise, which was adopted as part of the ACA, largely reinforces the Hyde Amendment, which has been included in annual Congressional appropriations legislation since the 1970s and prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion services unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or would endanger the woman’s life (non-Hyde abortions).
The ACA allows the coverage of abortion services through the marketplaces but includes a number of restrictions and requirements that insurers must follow before covering non-Hyde abortions. Many, though not all, of these restrictions are outlined in Section 1303 of the ACA, which includes specific rules related to the coverage of abortion services by Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) and has been the subject of previous litigation. In particular, Section 1303:
On the 12th anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act, Covered California reminds consumers that eligible Californians can sign up through special enrollment if they have a qualifying life event.
Californians who have recently lost their health insurance, got married, had a baby, have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, or paid a penalty for not having coverage are among those eligible for special enrollment.
Coverage is more affordable than ever thanks to the increased financial help available through the American Rescue Plan, and consumers can benefit from lower premiums throughout 2022.
A new Covered California analysis describes the potential impact to consumers if the increased health insurance subsidies that were part of the American Rescue Plan are allowed to expire at the end of 2022.
In California, all consumers would face premium increases, including 1 million lower-income consumers (individuals earning less than $32,200 per year), who would see their premiums more than double.
In addition, middle-income individuals and families (for individuals, those earning more than $51,520 per year), would no longer be eligible for any financial help and would face higher monthly premium costs that for many will mean annual cost increases in the thousands of dollars.
The increase in costs could force more than 150,000 people in California and more than 1.7 million nationally to drop their health insurance.
However, I deliberately left out a section because I wanted to discuss it separately. If you scroll down to pages 31 & 32, you'll see a summary of two important pieces of ACA-related legislation which have been introduced in the California state legislature.
One of these is SB 967, introduced by CA State Senator Robert Hertzberg, which would do the following:
