President Joe Biden looks to former President Barack Obama after signing an executive order during an event about the Affordable Care Act at the White House on April 5. Also, from left, are Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. — AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
President Joe Biden is right to look to extend the Affordable Care Act, which is now a significant part of the American health care system.
The Biden administration announced the new policy proposal Tuesday aimed at fixing a glitch estimated to be keeping about 5 million people from getting coverage under the law.
People tripped up by the family glitch are dependents of workers who have an offer of employer coverage that the government interprets as being affordable. As a rule, people with affordable employer coverage are not eligible for taxpayer-subsidized ACA plans.
But the issue with the current interpretation is that affordability is determined by the cost for employee-only coverage, and not more expensive family policies. Workers able to afford their own share may not be able to cover premiums for the entire family. So the family is cut out of ACA coverage.
A Biden administration regulation addressing the issue recently cleared White House review. The intent of the original policy was to prevent people with employer coverage from going into the health law’s subsidized markets, but advocates say it has proven too restrictive.
The White House estimates that the fix would help 200,000 people get insurance and bring costs down for nearly 1 million more.
Unless Congress takes action, Biden’s enhanced financial assistance for millions purchasing ACA plans will expire at the end of this year. A return to higher premiums would likely trigger an increase in the number of uninsured people.
The Biden legislation, which passed the House but stalled in the Senate, also includes a mechanism for providing coverage to as many as 4 million uninsured low-income adults in states that have refused the health law’s Medicaid expansion. It would deliver on Biden’s campaign promise to build on existing government programs to move the U.S. closer to coverage for all.
President Barack Obama returned to the White House on April 5 to mark the 12th anniversary of his signature Affordable Care Act.
Sign-ups under the health law have increased under Biden’s stewardship, and more generous taxpayer subsidies have cut costs for enrollees, albeit temporarily.
Obama’s last time in the mansion was Jan. 20, 2017, when he left to escort his successor, a president-elect bent on overturning “Obamacare,” to the Capitol for the inauguration.
“It’s good to be back in the White House. It’s been a while,” Obama said in the East Room after he was introduced by Vice President Kamala Harris. He opened by referring to Biden as “vice president” before acknowledging the joke and embracing his former No. 2.
Obama said he and Biden accomplished “a lot” in their eight years as stewards of the country, but “nothing made me prouder than providing better health care and more protections to millions of people across this country.”
“The ACA was an example of why you run for office in the first place,” Obama said, calling it the “high point of my time here.”
Biden and Obama marked the 12th anniversary of the law, which back in 2010 the then-vice president had memorably called a “big (expletive) deal.” Its staying power has been enhanced by three Supreme Court victories and an emphatic thumbs-down vote by the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., which took the wind out of President Donald Trump’s efforts to repeal and replace it.
The law was such a bugaboo in 2010 that Democrats rarely invoked it as they went into a midterm election that turned out to be, in Obama’s own words, a “shellacking.” Now, Democrats are hoping the political equation will work to their advantage, and that a focus on shoring up the tween-age health law can help them avoid a debacle at the polls this November.
Shortly after taking office, Biden opened up the health insurance markets to anyone seeking coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic, and his coronavirus relief bill provided a significant, though temporary, increase in financial assistance. The result was a record 14.5 million people signed up for subsidized private coverage.
By fixing the family glitch, Biden took significant steps to further strengthen the Affordable Care Act and expand affordable health care to millions of Americans.
Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune
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