The American Rescue Plan broadens the subsidies available under the Affordable Care Act for comprehensive health insurance — increasing them for people who are already eligible, and providing new assistance for people with incomes previously too high to qualify. The top set of maps, drawn from calculations made by the Kaiser Family Foundation, show how much the changes will reduce what people pay for health insurance around the country, depending on their location and age.
The changes mean small adjustments for some Americans and very substantial ones for others. For anyone earning around $19,000, subsidies will now be generous enough to sign up for a typical plan with no monthly payment. For someone earning over $51,000, new subsidies could lower premiums by as much as $1,000 a month in the country’s most expensive markets.
Some groups still won’t qualify for help: undocumented immigrants, and poor Americans in states that have not expanded Medicaid under an option provided by the Affordable Care Act. But a large majority of uninsured Americans can now get financial help buying insurance, according to Cynthia Cox, a vice president at Kaiser.