Next article Originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal Published on News5Cleveland.com under a content sharing agreement.
A record 477,793 Ohioans enrolled in Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Marketplace plans in 2024, according to data compiled by .Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.This is an increase from Last year's reportonly 294,644 Ohioans have been recorded to have participated in the program, with more to come in 2022 and beyond.259,999Registered.
Ohio's enrollment growth is an example of a larger national trend. On January 24, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced: 21.3 million people nationwide selected Marketplace plans during open enrollment. Of those, 16 million people renewed their insurance and 5 million were new users.
“Once again, record numbers of Americans are purchasing affordable health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, and now they and their families have the peace of mind that comes with insurance.” (HHS),” Secretary Xavier Becerra said. “The ACA continues to be a successful, popular, and important federal program for millions of people and their families. As we celebrate the success of this latest enrollment effort, HHS is committed to providing access to quality care. We will redouble the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to increase access and reduce costs.”
What is the Affordable Care Act?
Passed in 2010, the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) aims to make health care more affordable for Americans who need it. Subsidies are provided to households with average incomes below the federal poverty level, while Medicaid is expanded to include all adults with incomes 138% below the poverty level. Under the ACA, states that refuse to expand Medicaid would have their Medicaid funding cut at the federal level.This act also includes: Protection of medical customerswhich prevents insurance companies from denying or overcharging customers if they have a “pre-existing condition,” a health problem that existed before someone's health insurance coverage began.
What is a marketplace?
Marketplace, created by the Affordable Care Act in 2010, is an abbreviation for “.health insurance marketplace” is a medical insurance enrollment service. Marketplaces enable often uninsured customers to purchase affordable health plans through websites, call centers, and self-help. Applicants to the Marketplace may be eligible for more affordable health insurance tax credits or coverage through programs such as Medicaid or his CHIP, based on their income and household information.
How did countries react?
In 2012, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote. That the Affordable Care Act is constitutional. “Affordable Care Act requirements that certain individuals pay penalties if they do not have health insurance could reasonably be characterized as a tax” Chief Justice John Roberts said in the court's majority opinion. “The Constitution allows for such a tax, so it is not our role to prohibit it or to impart its wisdom or fairness.”
But the Supreme Court also ruled, by a 7-2 vote, that the ACA is mandatory and that the federal government cannot withdraw Medicaid funding if states choose not to expand Medicaid coverage. handed down the verdict.
“The threat of losing more than 10 percent of state budgets is economic exhaustion, and states have no real choice but to acquiesce to Medicaid expansion,” Justice Roberts wrote.
Since this judgment, only 10 states Along with once-resistant North Carolina, it has chosen not to expand Medicaid coverage. Expanded scope in December About last year. Of the states that have refused to expand Medicaid, all have Republican governors or Republican majorities in their state legislatures.
How has the Affordable Care Act affected Ohio?
republican governorJohn Kasich pushed for Medicaid expansion The policy went into effect a year later, despite protests from Republican lawmakers over Kasich's decision. 54,000 Ohioans enrolled in the program in 2014234,507 people have registered or renewed their membership 1 year later.
According to a survey conducted by Center for Budget and Policy PrioritiesAnd the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion announced in 2019 saved an estimated 19,200 lives for adults ages 55 to 64 from 2014 to 2017, including 1,452 Ohioans. Contains people.
“The lifesaving effects of Medicaid expansion are significant, with an estimated 39 to 64 percent reduction in annual mortality among insured older adults,” the study authors wrote.
Meanwhile, an analysisFrom Ohio Policy Statement Released in 2018 He said approximately 54,000 jobs in Ohio were directly supported by the state's Medicaid expansion, which increased disposable income for Ohioans by $2.7 billion.
“Ohio's Medicaid expansion provided an additional 691,803 working-age people with access to health care. A recent evaluation of the program found that access to health care, including early diagnosis and timely treatment of chronic conditions, increased access to health care. “We found that health outcomes are associated with improved health outcomes,” wrote Ohio State Policy Studies researchers Wendy Patton and Amanda Woodrum.
However, last year 609,517 Ohioans lost Medicaid coverageAfter COVID-19 protection measures ended in April, 73% of individuals had their registration canceled for procedural reasons.another 86,000After Ohio's children lost Medicaid coverage last year, Health Department Secretary Becerra sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine:Your state is one of the nine states with the highest number or percentage of children who have lost Medicaid or CHIP coverage since Medicaid or CHIP program eligibility renewals fully resumed this spring.”
How did Ohio politicians react?
All three candidates in the Republican Senate primary have announced their opposition to the Affordable Care Act. “The Affordable Care Act had nothing to do with affordability.” Bernie Moreno wrote in a July 27, 2022 Twitter post.
frank larose tweet June 28, 2012He said he was “disappointed” by the Supreme Court's ACA ruling, writing that “Medicaid costs for OH could reach billions of dollars and taxes for the MDL class could skyrocket.”
Matt Dolan's campaign website says about Obamacare:Wrongly conceived, poorly implemented, and became an instrument of partisan conflict”
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, voted for the Affordable Care Act and has consistently voted against efforts to repeal it.
Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for the 2024 presidential nomination, unsuccessfully tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act during his first administration. He vowed to abolish it if he wins in 2024..
