Image: www.enrollamerica.org
Despite policymakers’ attempts to repeal all or parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) nearly 60 times, the ACA works. What’s more, the law is clearly here to stay. On both occasions that all or specific provisions of the ACA have been to the Supreme Court, the health care law has remained largely intact. In 2014, the ACA enhanced the well-being of nearly 460,000 North Carolinians who were able to obtain affordable health care coverage.
Now, it’s time once again for the uninsured to enroll. Open Enrollment 3 started on November 1 and goes until January 31, 2016. As of December 5, nearly 200,000 people in North Carolina had applied for health care coverage through the Marketplace. Today, December 15, is the deadline to enroll for health coverage starting on January 1, 2016.
Even though there has been much attention paid to increasing premiums for coverage purchased through the Marketplace, many North Carolinians will still receive financial help. The average amount of financial assistance received by ACA enrollees is $315 per month. Further, the majority of enrollees selected plans costing less than $75 per month.
Another fiscal consideration is that the penalty for not enrolling in a plan is increasing to $695 per person or 2.5 percent of one’s household income, whichever is higher. 2016 will also be the first year that people will not receive an additional grace period or special enrollment period around the tax deadline. Even though the financial impact of obtaining health coverage is significant for many households and individuals, having access to health care gives one peace of mind. The ACA mandates the coverage of essential health benefits ranging from maternity and newborn care to mental health and substance use disorder treatment.
Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians will not qualify for health coverage through the ACA, do not have access to employer based health insurance, and are ineligible for Medicaid. Our state policymakers have failed to extend health coverage through Medicaid expansion to home health care workers, parents, office clerks, and school bus drivers.
One year ago, the Cone Health Foundation released a report highlighting the benefits of Medicaid expansion. If our state legislators would have chosen to expand Medicaid, 29,000 jobs would have been created this year. In addition to the approximately 200,000 (and counting) North Carolinians who will have health coverage starting in the new year by enrolling in the ACA, according to the report 300,000 people would have gained health coverage if policymakers had decided to expand Medicaid this year. Let’s start 2016 on a healthy note, enroll for health coverage today and encourage your state policymakers to expand Medicaid to 500,000 North Carolinians in the coverage gap.
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