Across New York State and the country alike, recent efforts to close the health insurance coverage gap have been making coverage more affordable and accessible. At the Health Foundation for Western & Central New York, our efforts to pursue health equity include advocating for health coverage for all New Yorkers and working to ensure that equitable care and insurance are available and accessible for all people.
That’s why we are concerned to see extremely beneficial improvements to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are at risk of ending this year – with these decisions potentially being made over the next few months. It is urgent that Congress not only extend these improvements but make them permanent.
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) provided the greatest investment in health care access and coverage since the ACA was passed. The federal Covid relief funding significantly expanded eligibility for subsidies, making health care coverage on the ACA Marketplace more affordable.
In addition, the ARP made more people eligible for premium tax credits, ensuring that enrollees with moderate incomes pay no more than 8.5% of their incomes toward premiums.
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Thanks to these improvements to the ACA, health care coverage increased by 21% across the country in 2021, including 219,000 New Yorkers who enrolled in the Marketplace during the 2021 open enrollment period – a 3% increase.
But according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, without congressional action this summer, people shopping for Marketplace coverage will be notified of looming premium hikes this fall and an estimated 3.1 million people will lose coverage and become uninsured in 2023.
Why is it important to make these changes permanent? Simply put, better health care coverage leads to better health outcomes. With these improvements to the ACA, fewer Americans have faced the daunting choice between affording medical care and other necessities, or forgoing care overall.
Improving health care coverage is also strongly linked to efforts to improve racial health equity and close disparities by enabling historically uninsured and underinsured communities, including Black, Latino and Native American populations, to better access care.
Unfortunately, these important efforts to make health care more affordable for Americans will discontinue soon unless legislation is passed to extend them or make them permanent.
We should learn from the Covid-19 pandemic and – rather than waiting for the next public emergency – make long-term, holistic legislative improvements to our health care system to ensure all people will continue to have access to the care they need and deserve.
Nora OBrien-Suric, Ph.D., is president of the Health Foundation for Western & Central New York.
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