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Affordable Care Act Marketplace insurers are raising premiums by an average of 18% next year, due in part to the expiring enhanced premium tax credits. Even if the credits are extended in shutdown negotiations, it is unlikely that insurers will have time to revise premiums, though the credits would still offer enrollees relief from them.
In his latest column, KFF’s President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman looks at why the issue of extending the enhanced ACA tax credits has languished in Congress without clear direction, despite its importance to the 24 million people who get their coverage in the ACA Marketplaces today and the potentially significant role the issue could play in the midterms if the credits are not extended.
KFF's Health Tracking Poll finds that more than three-quarters of the public say they want Congress to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits that are set to expire at the end of this year. If the credits do expire and the average premium more than doubles, seven in 10 of those who purchase their own insurance say they would not be able to afford premiums without significantly disrupting their household finances.
President Trump announced a health care framework that leaves open key questions, including those about out-of-pocket costs, premiums, federal spending, and health coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
As tax season closes, Drew Altman looks at why the ACA’s individual mandate and tax credit reconciliation process “passed their first major hurdles this tax season with no significant public backlash,” in his latest column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank.
The Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Hospital Association’s (AHA’s) Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) held their annual reporters-only web briefing on Wednesday, September 14 at 11 a.m. ET to release their benchmark 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey.
As fall approaches, we can expect to hear more about how employers are adapting their health plans for 2016 open enrollments. One topic likely to garner a good deal of attention is how the Affordable Care Act’s high cost plan tax (HCPT), sometimes called the “Cadillac plan” tax or "Cadillac tax," is affecting employer decisions about their health benefits. The tax takes effect in 2018.
The potential of facing an HCPT assessment as soon as 2018 is encouraging employers to assess their current health benefits and consider cost reductions to avoid triggering the tax. Some employers announced that they made changes in 2014 in anticipation of the HCPT, and more are likely to do so as the implementation date gets closer.
Share of Potentially-Affected Employers Could Grow to 30% in 2023, 42% in 2028, Analysis Finds New projections from the Kaiser Family Foundation estimate that one in four employers (26%) offering health benefits could be subject to the Affordable Care Act’s tax on high-cost health plans, also known as the "Cadillac plan" tax, in 2018 unless…
In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman says the debate about whether to keep or repeal the Cadillac tax is more than a debate between sound policy and good politics, there are strong substantive arguments on both sides. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.
This analysis provides estimates of how premiums, after taking into account tax credits, would differ in 2020 under the Senate's Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) vs. the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for people currently enrolled in the federal and state insurance marketplaces.
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