Oregon and Kentucky are using an overlooked provision of the Affordable Care Act to provide health insurance for people who can’t afford Obamacare plans but make too much to qualify for Medicaid, POLITICO’s Megan Messerly writes.
Only New York and Minnesota took advantage of the option — called the basic health program — when it was introduced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2014. The sudden interest from those two very different states speaks to the broad understanding that the Biden administration isn’t likely to expand health care and the anxiety that the end of the pandemic’s public health emergency could kick millions off of Medicaid.
The basics: A basic health program offers low-cost insurance for people who make up to twice the federal poverty level — about $55,000 a year for a family of four — and don’t qualify for Medicaid.
In Oregon, Democrats passed a bill in March to establish a program. In Kentucky, Republicans approved $4.5 million in state funds this spring to set one up. An estimated 85,000 Oregonians and at least 37,000 Kentuckians will be eligible to enroll in the plans as soon as next year.
Critics say states should focus on making exchange coverage more affordable instead of creating new basic health programs. In a letter to CMS earlier this month, Kaiser Permanente called the basic health program an “inelegant and potentially market-undermining program.” Hospitals have also voiced concerns.