Growth is found only in adversity.
Enrollment for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance marketplaces has begun, and most consumers will have until Jan. 15 to choose a plan for 2022 that will best meet their medical needs.
As consumers review their insurance coverage and decide whether to make changes for next year, they'll see not only more plans but also more affordable options as well, says Karen Pollitz, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
"I think people who haven't looked in a while will be pleasantly surprised at how much more affordable the coverage is," Pollitz says. That is due mainly to the American Rescue Plan enacted in 2021 that temporarily expanded the federal subsidies available in the marketplace plans and increased the amount of the financial assistance for which consumers can qualify.
"If your income is one to one and a half times the [federal] poverty level, which is just under $20,000 a year for a single person, you can now get a free heath insurance policy that has either a zero or a very low deductible," Pollitz says. And the vast majority of Americans who sign up for ACA plans can expect to qualify for some federal subsidy. Also under the American Rescue Plan, consumers will not have to pay any more than 8.5 percent of their annual income for marketplace insurance plan premiums.
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