THE ACA AND ENHANCED PREMIUM TAX CREDITS
The NDNRC wants to make sure that people with disabilities (PWDs) are aware of potential changes to their healthcare with the new administration taking office. The disability community utilizes Medicaid, and the ACA Marketplace plans at a higher rate than those without disabilities due to their unique needs.
By updating this newsletter with resources and educational pieces on where disability health policies stand, we hope to ensure that the disability community continues to have access to accessible and affordable healthcare coverage no matter what changes occur in the foreseeable future.
Justice in Aging released a factsheet on Medicaid cuts and its impacts on Medicare, noting that nearly 30% of Medicaid funding supports Medicare enrollees and more than 6 in 10 people in nursing facilities use Medicaid.
Community Catalyst released an update on news that the rollback of Medicaid funds would directly impact housing and transportation, as the previous administration allowed states to use Medicaid funding to aid in social determinants of health in relation to these services.
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families covered what the current president has said thus far about Medicaid, a useful piece for health policy advocates to continue to track and what to expect during budget negotiations.
The Commonwealth Fund covered how policymakers can help protect against fraud in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace without increasing premiums for enrollees. Suggestions of removing premium tax credits to decrease fraud would harm enrollees, which was covered in more depth in this article.
The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) discussed how marginalized communities, like the disability community, would lose eligibility for the Marketplace if enhanced tax credits are not extended, which help lower monthly premium payments for enrollees.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) covered overall policies that would strengthen the Marketplace but are currently being considered to be cut. This piece also highlighted the increase of Marketplace enrollees to over 24 million people thanks to the introduction of the enhanced premium tax credits in 2021.
CBPP also highlighted how proposed cuts to social security income would negatively affect children with disabilities and their families. Congress should instead consider programs that aim for independent living for this community instead of removing support.
KFF has been releasing basic key facts and overall topical factsheets to educate the public on common public and health policy basics. This past week, they focused on Medicaid and hospitals and the basics of public health in the United States.
As a part of our partnership with the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), we have updated Factsheets 1 through 16, excluding Factsheet 6; people with disabilities should read topic and population specific sheets.
The American Public Health Association (APHA) is calling for abstracts for the APHA 2025 Annual Meeting and Expo. The submission deadline is March 28, 2025: “APHA’s Disability section invites abstract submissions for socio-behavioral including health education and program intervention research, epidemiological, health systems, health law and policy, and social justice research related to disability and public health that represent people with all types of disabilities (e.g., cognitive, physical, mental, and sensory) across the lifespan. The section encourages abstracts that feature domestic and international perspectives. Case studies and demonstration projects that represent best practices and have been evaluated are also highly encouraged.”
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.