Around 19,000 Illinoisians could lose health insurance coverage next year, following the expiration of temporary enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies and the end of Medicaid’s continuous enrollment policy, according to a recent report from the Urban Institute. [Health News Illinois 4.18.2022]
 
The American Rescue Plan Act, enacted in April of last year, boosted premium tax credits and extended eligibility to those making more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Those changes are set to expire next year. 
 
If Congress doesn’t act, 3.1 million more people could become uninsured across the nation, with those enrolled through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces facing hundreds of dollars more per person on premiums, per the report. 
 
Nationwide, the uninsured rate would rise to 10.4 percent. In Illinois, it would rise to 9.2 percent, with about 996,000 people without insurance.
 
Black people, young adults, and people with incomes between 138 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level will likely experience the biggest coverage losses. 
 
Extending the subsidies will likely increase the federal deficit by $305 billion over 10 years, the report noted. 
 
The federal public health emergency is set to end this summer, along with Medicaid’s continuous enrollment policy. The report’s authors estimate that Medicaid enrollment will fall by 14 million next year nationwide.
 
Extending the subsidies could mean more leaving Medicaid will be eligible for premium tax credits, with those eligible likely to pay less in premiums, per the report.

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