Posted on 11/22/2022 1:09:41 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it’s seeing a big uptick in the number of new customers buying private health insurance for 2023 from the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace.
Nearly 3.4 million people have signed up for coverage — an increase of 17% compared to the same time last year. The boost in enrollment comes as the number of uninsured Americans this year reached a historic low of 8%.
The boost in enrollment is largely driven by generous subsidies -- extended through 2025 in the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief law -- that keep monthly premiums payments at $0 or just a few dollars monthly for most people who sign up.
Experts will be watching to see if the strong start to the ACA’s open enrollment continues for the next few weeks.
“This demonstrates very solid demand for health insurance,” said Massey Whorley, a principal at health consulting firm Avalere. “Only time will tell if this is truly, outsized significant growth, or if it is people acting earlier in the open enrollment window.”
The record-low insurance rate in the U.S. could also be disrupted next year, when the government is expected to declare an end to the COVID-19 pandemic and boot millions of Medicaid recipients off the coverage. That could drive more people to the federal marketplace in 2023, Whorley added.
“We’re going to be looking at a period of significant flux,” Whorley said. “All of this points to more and more people coming into the exchange.”
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
One step closer for the ultimate goal set by cloward and piven.
With millions of illegals crossing over, this not surprising.
I need a specialist and the line is 2 months.
The Obama/Biden, you Communist a$$hole$.
Unemployment will do that.
The subsidies are not yet means tested. They are determined by income. Me, worth a whole bunch but will have little income next year - think I’ll get a cheap plan rather than the $900/month COBRA I have now.
Go for it.
With Biden Bucks, “… monthly premiums payments at $0 or just a few dollars monthly for most people who sign up.”
FR: Never Accept the Premise of Your Opponent’s Argument
Emphasizing that the states have never expressly constitutionally given the feds the specific power to tax and spend in the name of INTRAstate healthcare, Pelosi's scandalous Obamacare based on stolen state powers imo, does this boost in people also include illegal immigrants in exchange for illegal votes for Democrats?
”State inspection laws, health laws , and laws for regulating the internal commerce of a State, and those which respect turnpike roads, ferries, &c. are not within the power granted to Congress [emphases added].” —Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
No real “affordable” plans. I just retired from my main gig which goes to the end of this month. After that I chose Excellus over Fidelis based on reviews. With subsidy, approx $350 a month. (Medical/dental silver plan for me and DH).
“think I’ll get a cheap plan rather than the $900/month COBRA”
Good move! I did just that when I retired in 2017. I stuck with COBRA until the end of the year, then I went on a cheap Obamacare plan. I had to cough up a few grand for carpel-tunnel surgery, but overall, it worked out great. Just keep your income under that magic number, which was ~$45K. One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the cheap plans are HSA compatible. You can squirrel an extra ~$4500 and take it off your MAGI. I have just now finally drained the HSA after going on Medicare 2 years ago. Most of it is in my mouth, but at least it was tax free.
In NC, a BCBS Bronze HSA plan was running me about $110 with subsidy. Less than Medicare.
My base retirement income (I’m 62, hubby is 54) annually is $46,800. Does that mean I can dump $2K (1,800) into an FSA?
First, I am not a tax expert, so take what I say with a grain of salt and do your homework. That aside, you do not want a FSA. Those are the use-it-or-lose-it plans. An HSA you keep until it is all used up. The limits are on how much you can contribute and when. You won’t be able to contribute more after you go on Medicare, but you can still use it for medical expenses.
There is an Obamacare cliff, where if you make $1 too much, it could cost you thousands because you lose the entire subsidy. $46800 was just about the exact amount the last year I was on Medicare, but again, check it for yourself. An accountant told me that they see people every day who get burned by this.
BTW, when I was on COBRA, I paid the premiums out of my HSA. You could not use it to pay any other premiums, just COBRA. If you already have an HSA, that might help you, but check it for yourself. HTH.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.