How The Affordable Care Act Will Benefit African Americans

 The Affordable Care Act –will help make health insurance coverage more affordable and accessible for millions of Americans.  For African Americans, like other racial and ethnic minorities, the law will address inequities and will increase access to quality, affordable health coverage, invest in prevention and wellness, and give individuals and families more control over their care.

African Americans suffer from obesity, heart disease, and diabetes at higher levels than the general population. For example, in 2010, 37 percent of African Americans were obese, compared to 26% of whites¹. Expanding opportunities for coverage can improve health outcomes for African Americans.

Already, the Affordable Care Act has benefitted the nearly 85% of Americans who already have insurance:

• 3.1 million young adults have gained coverage through the parents’ plans
• 6.6 million seniors are paying less for prescription drugs
• 105 million Americans are paying less for preventative care & no longer face lifetime coverage limits
• 13.1 million Americans have received rebates from insurance companies
• 17 million children with pre-existing conditions no longer denied coverage or charged extra

Beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act will provide 6.8 million uninsured African Americans an opportunity to get affordable health insurance coverage. The following provides an overview of the coverage and benefits available to African Americans today and those made possible by the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Happening Now:

• An estimated 7.3 million African Americans with private insurance now have access to expanded preventive services with no cost sharing. These services include well-child visits, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, Pap tests and mammograms for women, and flu shots for children and adults.
• The 4.5 million elderly and disabled African Americans who receive health coverage from Medicare also have access to many preventive services with no cost-sharing, including annual wellness visits with personalized prevention plans, diabetes and colorectal cancer screening, bone mass measurement and mammograms.
• More than 500,000 young African American adults between ages 19 and 25 who would otherwise have been uninsured now have coverage under their parent’s employer-sponsored or individually purchased health plan.
• Major federal investments to improve quality of care are improving management of chronic diseases more prevalent among African Americans.
• The health care workforce will be more diverse due to a near tripling of the National Health Service Corps. African American physicians make up about 17 percent of Corps physicians, a percentage that greatly exceeds their 6 percent share of the national physician workforce.
• Investments in data collection and research will help us better understand the causes of health care disparities and develop effective programs to eliminate them.
• Targeted interventions, such as Community Transformation Grants, will promote healthy lifestyles, lower health care costs, and reduce health disparities.
• Increased funding available to more than 1,100 community health centers will increase the number of patients served. One of every five patients at a health center is African American.

Coming Soon:

• 6.8 million uninsured African Americans will have new opportunities for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace.  Of the 6.8 million uninsured African Americans who are eligible for coverage through the Marketplace, 56 percent are men.
• The Marketplace is a destination where consumers can compare insurance options in simple, easy to understand language. At the Marketplace, consumers will be able to compare insurance options based on price, benefits, quality and other factors with a clear picture of premiums and cost-sharing amounts to help them choose the insurance that best fits their needs.  
• Consumers may be eligible for free or low cost coverage, or advance premium tax credits that lower monthly premiums right away.  Individuals with higher incomes (up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or $94,200 for a family of four) will be eligible to purchase subsidized coverage from the Health Insurance Marketplace.
• States have new opportunities to expand Medicaid coverage to include Americans with family incomes at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level (generally $31,322 for a family of four in 2013). This expansion includes adults without dependent children living at home, who have not previously been eligible in most states. 

New Report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on lower than expected premiums available in the new Health Insurance Marketplace:

A new report released today by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finds that in state after state, consumers will see increased competition in the Health Insurance Marketplace, leading to new and affordable choices for consumers.  According to the report, consumers will be able to choose from an average of 53 health plans in the Marketplace, and the vast majority of consumers will have a choice of at least two different health insurance companies - usually more.  Premiums nationwide will also be around 16 percent lower than originally expected – with about 95 percent of eligible uninsured live in states with lower than expected premiums – before taking into account financial assistance.

To read the report on health insurance rates, visit: http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2013/MarketplacePremiums/ib_marketplace_premiums.cfm.
To view the data on rates, visit: http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2013/MarketplacePremiums/datasheet_home.cfm.

Getting answers is easy:

Visit HERE for helpful resources to get more information on the Affordable Care Act and the Health Insurance Marketplace.

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¹ http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_252.pdf

Delivering on the Affordable Care Act: Marketplace Premiums Lower than Expected

A new report shows that the Affordable Care Act will deliver on its promise to make health insurance more affordable and accessible for Americans who need it. The report, released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), finds that in state after state, affordable options will be available through the Health Insurance Marketplace in 2014. 

Nearly all eligible uninsured Americans (about 95%) live in states with average premiums below earlier projections.  And nearly all consumers (about 95%) will have a choice of health insurance companies, each of which offers a number of different plans.  Competition and transparency are driving a new set of affordable options for consumers – it is how the law was designed.  This new report shows the real impact it could have – a working a family with income of $50,000 could pay less than $100 per month for the lowest bronze plan, after tax credits.

The Marketplace will be run in partnership with States or fully by the HHS in 36 states. In these states, on average, consumers will have a choice of 53 health plans (bronze, silver, gold, and platinum plans).  Young adults will have the additional option of low-cost youth plans. And, about one in four of these insurance companies are newly offering plans in the individual market, a sign of healthy competition. 

And competition is helping to lower costs. States with the lowest premiums have more than twice the number of insurance companies offering plans than states with the highest premiums.  In the 48 States (including the District of Columbia) where premiums are available, the average premium for the lowest cost silver plan in the Marketplace is more than 16 percent lower than projected. 

Premiums are even lower for workers and families qualifying for tax credits.  For example, in Texas, an average 27-year-old with income of $25,000 could pay $83 for the lowest-cost bronze plan, $133 for the lowest-cost silver plan, and $145 per month for the second lowest-cost silver plan after tax credits.  For a family of four in Texas with income of $50,000, they could pay $57 per month for the lowest bronze plan, $239 for the lowest silver plan, and $282 per month for the second lowest-cost silver plan.

And based on the law’s provisions (the premium tax credit and Medicaid expansion), nearly 6 in 10 of the uninsured will pay $100 or less per month for health coverage.

Download the full report HERE, or information by state, click HERE.

In less than a week, the new Marketplace will be open for business. From October to March 2014, more Americans will be able to check out their choices at HealthCare.gov and find health plans that fit their lives and their budgets.

For more information, go to HealthCare.gov.

Jeanne Lambrew, Deputy Assistant to the President for Health Policy

Diagnosed with Cancer at Age 23

It is October of 2010. I am getting ready to graduate from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. Even more exciting for me, I am elected to be part of the Homecoming Court for my outstanding involvement and dedication to our university and local community and for my exemplary character. To top off an incredible month, I  received a job offer from one of the four big accounting firms. Everything was great. I never thought my life would take such a turn. 

A year later, I am finishing a Masters degree in taxation and working part time at the accounting firm when I feel pain in my left ankle. I visit several doctors who tell me the pain came from running and/or working out.  Then, on April 26, 2012, my life changed. I received a diagnosis of Ewings Sarcoma, a type of bone cancer. Instead of tendonitis from running, the pain I felt  was a cancerous tumor in my left ankle that had spread to various parts of my body. 

At the time of my diagnosis, a student a month away from graduation, I was uninsured. For a while I feared the worst. I pictured myself dying at home, because I didn’t have the money to afford the very expensive treatment I needed. At this moment in my young life, I felt true desperation. I wanted to live and continue to give back to my community, which always made me happy, but I didn’t even know what to do to take care of my health and survive. 

It was a blessing when I found out about the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, or PCIP through the Affordable Care Act because it was an answer to my prayers and desperation. PCIP is a program designed to provide affordable health coverage for people like me who were otherwise locked out of the private insurance system. It also serves as a bridge to 2014, when insurance companies are prohibited from refusing to sell coverage based on someone’s pre-existing condition.

Shortly after I learned about this special plan and gained health insurance, I began my chemotherapy treatments.  Now, it’s been a little over a year since my diagnosis. I’m still here and still fighting for my life. I hope to soon be in full recovery, to return to the person I love to be, one that gets great satisfaction from helping others. 

The Affordable Care Act and the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance program help me access medical coverage when I need it. So I don’t have to worry if I have an injury, or an illness, or an accident, that my finances won’t be turned upside down by health care costs.   

Maria Gomez is a graduate from Arizona State University and a federal tax associate at an international accounting firm. She is our first guest blogger for our Hispanic Heritage Month series on Securing Our Future: Access to Quality Health Coverage.

To learn more about the Affordable Care Act, visit Healthcare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov and join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #OurSalud