A Biden-Like Health Plan Proposal Could Improve Affordability, Lower Premiums

October 9

Expanding Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies beyond the current range of 100-400% of the federal poverty level for potential enrollees, as proposed by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, would lower costs for almost all exchange enrollees, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. Biden also wants to tie ACA subsidies to the second-lowest-cost gold plan rather than the second-lowest-cost silver plan and reduce the maximum premium contribution to 8.5% of an enrollee’s income for a benchmark gold plan. Under his proposal, older people making $50,000 annually would save the most on their monthly premiums. A 60-year-old would pay $354 on average per month for the second-lowest-cost gold plan instead of the current premium of $1,029. With the expanded subsidies, Biden’s campaign estimated that federal spending on the ACA exchanges would increase significantly.

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Health Plan Weekly

Jinghong Chen Reporter

Jinghong has been producing infographics and data stories on employer-sponsored insurance, public health insurance programs and prescription drug coverage for AIS Health’s Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits since 2018. She also manages AIS Health’s annual executive compensation database for top insurers and Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates. Before joining AIS Health, she interned at WBEZ, Al Jazeera English and The New York Times Chinese. She graduated from Missouri School of Journalism with a focus on data journalism and international reporting.