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COVID-19 relief bill makes Affordable Care Act more affordable

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Affordable care act, obamacare, health care
By Kenzie Dillow

(WSIL)--With the signing of the new stimulus bill by President Biden--many new changes were created to make the Affordable Care Act more accessible and more affordable.

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"In a pandemic, maybe the importance of health insurance becomes more prominent," said Jessica Cataldo, a Healthcare Management instructor at SIU. "I think one of the biggest provisions within the new stimulus bill is removal of the income limit for subsidies on the marketplace."

This provision makes it so there is no cap on how much a person can make in order to get federal subsidies from the individual marketplace.

Subsidies act as a tax credit that can help lower monthly premiums.

The stimulus bill says there are now 34 billion dollars that can be used for subsidies.

"That money has been allocated for those subsidies but that doesn't mean people are going to use 34 billion dollars worth of subsidies," said Cataldo.

Still, Cataldo believes more will be able to take part in the Affordable Care Act, since the bill removes the limit from the federal poverty limit.

"It was truly an economic stimulus bill, if you will, in that recognizing that healthcare can be very expensive for people. So how do we make it affordable so that all of their income doesn't go towards their healthcare," said Cataldo.

Now, it's a waiting game to see if the allocated funds are used.

Some estimates show it could cover as much as 1.3 million more Americans.

"I think that's what remains to be seen with this bill is how many people will take advantage of those new subsidies that now exist," said Cataldo.

Cataldo said that those who will benefit greatly from this bill are people who purchased insurance at low premiums, but with high deductibles.

These subsidies will help lower some of the costs that accompany insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

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