From the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center (http://www.pennbpc.org):
800K + Pennsylvanians could lose health insurance coverage if the ACA is repealed
HARRISBURG—A federal appeals court yesterday took up a Republican lawsuit that could wipe out the Affordable Care Act and, with it, health insurance for something like 20 million people.
A new report from the PA Budget and Policy Center lays out what is at stake for Pennsylvanians if federal courts dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Pennsylvania’s current uninsured rate is nearly half of what it is nationally, 6.2% compared to the national uninsured rate of 11.1%. But, with a full repeal of the ACA, the state would see our non-elderly uninsured numbers skyrocket by 133% – our uninsured would increase from 644,000 to 1.5 million.
This 133% increase in the uninsured in Pennsylvania would be the 8th largest increase of all fifty states with full ACA repeal – this is about twice the increase the U.S. as a whole would see with full repeal (65.4%).
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 has had a tremendous impact on the state of health care in Pennsylvania. Since its roll-out, the number of Pennsylvania residents with health insurance has increased and the uninsured rate declined considerably. This has been achieved primarily through two key parts of the ACA – Medicaid expansion and the tax credit subsidies for health care exchanges.
Expansion began in 2015, providing Medicaid benefits to individuals and families up to 138% of the federal poverty line. Prior to expansion, only disabled or very low-income parents of dependent children qualified for Medicaid. As of November 2018, 692,047 people were enrolled in expanded Medicaid in Pennsylvania.
Health care exchanges reduce the cost of health insurance for those with incomes between 138% and 400% of the federal poverty line. As of February 2017, more than 426,000 Pennsylvanians had signed up for health care in 2017 through the exchanges (in 2016 it was 412,347 people). About 75% of returning marketplace consumers in 2017 were able to find health insurance for less than $100 a month as a result of the exchanges.
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