HOW WILL ARPA AFFECT THE ACA MARKETPLACES?
Last week, we highlighted the fact that the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was passed by Congress and signed into law. As we noted, many of the provisions in the ARPA will have a direct effect on the ACA marketplaces. CMS has released a fact sheet which explains many of the provisions in the new law and how it will affect premium tax credits available through the ACA marketplace. To read more or for a link to the fact sheet, check out our news item.
In addition to the CMS fact sheet, there are additional resources which can help explain the effect of the ARPA on the ACA marketplace and Medicaid. The following is a list of resources which outlined the potential effect of the ARPA:
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: American Rescue Plan Act Will Help Millions and Bolster the Economy (updated)
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Health Provisions in American Rescue Plan Act Improve Access to Health Coverage During COVID Crisis
- Community Catalyst: The American Rescue Plan: what’s in it, state-level advocacy and what’s coming next
- Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms: American Rescue Plan Act Will Strengthen Public and Private Health Insurance
- Kaiser Family Foundation: Potential Impact of Additional Federal Funds for Medicaid HCBS for Seniors and People with Disabilities
- National Academy for State Health Policy: The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act’s Major Health Care Provisions
If you want to learn more about the new law and how it will affect the ACA marketplace, we will be addressing this on our upcoming webinar. If you missed our announcement last week, we are hosting a webinar this coming Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at 2:00 PM ET entitled “COVID SEP – How is it different?”. This webinar will address how the COVID Special Enrollment Period (SEP) is different from usual SEPs. It will explore the specifics of how the COVID SEP works and will also look at what people with disabilities need to consider when selecting a health insurance plan and we will also address the ARPA’s effect on the marketplace. Details, including a registration link, can be found in our news item.
For more information about the COVID SEP, check out our other NDNRC posts:
- Blog post (2/19/21): How is the COVID SEP Different?
- Blog post (2/3/21): States Open COVID SEPs (recently updated)
- News item (3/4/21): COVID SEP Enrollment Update
- News item (2/15/21): COVID SEP Begins Today!
- News item (1/28/21): New COVID SEP Announced
Did you know that this coming Tuesday represents the 11-year anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act? In honor of this anniversary, AAHD will be participating in a Twitter chat with Young Invincibles at 3:00 PM ET on Tuesday, March 23. To participate, follow along with the #TodaysVoicesTues or follow the AAHD Twitter account.
In our list of COVID SEP resources, we included our news item on the COVID SEP Enrollment Update which was put out by CMS at the end of February. The Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms has a blog post which examines these numbers and how the SEP has increased access to the marketplaces.
The American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) is very concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on persons with disabilities. Now that vaccines are becoming more available, AAHD wants to understand the reasons for COVID-19 vaccination decisions among adults (18+) with disabilities. The purpose of the COVID-19 and Vaccine Survey for Adults with Disabilities is to understand the reasons adults with disabilities have or will take the vaccine, are not sure about taking it, or have decided not to take the vaccine. The average completion time for the survey is less than 10 minutes. The survey is now open using this link! The deadline to complete the survey is Friday, March 26. If you want to read more, please check out our page on the AAHD website.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.