Extending and increasing premium subsidies for COBRA and Affordable Care Act enrollees would cost approximately $57.0 billion over the next three years and may lower uninsurance.
The Biden Administration’s coronavirus relief plan seeks to expand healthcare coverage during the pandemic by increasing and extending COBRA and Affordable Care Act premium subsidies and supporting veterans’ healthcare coverage through the Veteran Health Administration, the American Rescue Plan summary explained.
“I look forward to working with members of Congress from both parties to move quickly to get the American Rescue Plan to the American people,” president-elect Joe Biden said in prepared remarks introducing the plan.
“And then we can move with equal urgency and bipartisanship to my Build Back Better Recovery Plan that I will call for next month to generate even more economic growth.”
In its summary of the American Rescue Plan, the Administration cited Kaiser Family Foundation’s most recent insurance loss estimated which calculated that approximately two to three million individuals lost their employer-sponsored health plan between March 2020 and September 2020. Studies have demonstrated that these losses have amplified racial disparities
The American Rescue Plan requested that Congress subsidize healthcare coverage through Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). Congress extended COBRA coverage due to the pandemic back in May 2020. The pandemic-era COBRA policies resulted in much confusion among employers.
https://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/biden-administration-seeks-to-expand-cobra-aca-premium-subsidies