Characteristics Of Those Eligible For Cost Sharing Reductions And Premium Tax Credits Under The Affordable Care Act

Download or read book Characteristics of Those Eligible for Cost-sharing Reductions and Premium Tax Credits Under the Affordable Care Act written by Linda J. Blumberg and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Under the ACA, approximately 23.2 million people will be eligible for financial assistance through the nongroup marketplaces in 2016. Of those 23.2 million, almost 60 percent are eligible for both tax credits to lower the cost of their health insurance premiums and CSRs to lower their direct out-of-pocket payments for medical services. Those eligible for both types of assistance are heavily concentrated in the South, almost half are single adults without children, and the majority are White. They differ from those eligible for premium tax credits alone in that they have lower income, tend to be younger, and more frequently report being in fair or poor health. In addition, if enrolled in the most comprehensive coverage for which they are eligible for assistance, they tend to incur somewhat higher health expenditures, consistent with their worse health status and their lower cost-sharing responsibilities. CSRs can play an important role in ensuring affordable access to care when needed, and comparing the characteristics of those eligible to receive them with those actually enrolling will allow us to identify individuals not being effectively reached through state, federal, and private outreach and enrollment efforts.