Affordability Beyond Premiums: State Policy Efforts To Lower ACA Marketplace Out-of-Pocket Costs
Join CAP for a virtual discussion with state officials and advocates on policies to improve out-of-pocket cost affordability for Americans with ACA marketplace coverage.
The Center for American Progress is dedicated to bolstering affordable, high-quality health care and health insurance coverage. This virtual discussion is the first in a series that will highlight reforms that states are pursuing or have recently adopted to improve consumer coverage affordability through:
- Lowering out-of-pocket costs in ACA marketplace insurance.
- Enhancing consumer protections and improving the value of insurance.
- Lowering the cost of prescription drugs.
- Averting and alleviating medical debt.
Since 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces have been a source of affordable, comprehensive health insurance for millions of Americans. Enhanced subsidies through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Inflation Reduction Act helped lower enrollee premiums even further, contributing to record high marketplace enrollment of 20.5 million people in 2024.
Despite federal assistance that reduces premiums, marketplace coverage can sometimes be unaffordable to use for some low- and middle-income families who may struggle with their plans’ out-of-pocket costs—including deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments. In response, states are leveraging the enhanced assistance made possible by the ARPA and the Inflation Reduction Act to take action to address consumer affordability beyond premiums, aiming to lower out-of-pocket costs so that everyone with marketplace plans can get the care they need.
Join the Center for American Progress on April 18, 2024, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 pm EDT to learn more about state initiatives to lower marketplace cost sharing by eliminating or lowering deductibles, increasing plans’ actuarial values, and using standardized plan designs.
Thursday, April 18, 2024 - 1:00 pm (U.S./Eastern)
