Good Question: Who's Using Obamacare & How Much Money Are They Getting?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Thursday's Supreme Court ruling means millions of Americans can still get tax credits to buy health insurance. The court ruled in favor of allowing states like Wisconsin, which never set up its own marketplace, to continue to offer financial assistance for health insurance.
So, who is using Obamacare? And how much money are they getting?
"Across the country, there are people that are directly benefiting from the law but don't even know it," said President Barack Obama in speech on Thursday following the ruling.
More than 16 million people have gotten health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Some 2.3 million gained insurance due to the provision that people could remain on their parent's plan until age 26. Many of them gained coverage through expanded access to Medicaid. About 10 million found it through the individual marketplace.
Steve Parente, a professor of healthcare finance at the Carlson School of Management, said there is no average person using Obamacare.
"There are folks who could not afford healthcare previously," he said. "It spans kids that might have come off their parents plans after the age of 26. It spans someone who is chronically ill before Medicare. It really is all over the map."
A recent Gallup poll found 88 percent of Americans now have health insurance coverage. That's up from 82 percent in the fall of 2013.
Thursday's Supreme Court decision centered on subsidies. Of the 10 million who've signed up for the Affordable Care Act, 85 percent get tax credits that average $272/month.
"On average it's about 50-60 percent of the premium," Parente said. "It could be as little as 10 percent of the premium or 90 percent of the premium, it depends on how much you earn."
In Minnesota, 51 percent of the 50,000 people with individual MNsure plans get a tax credit that averages $161/month.
According to a MNSure spokesperson, Minnesota offers fewer subsidies because the state's premium costs are lower and more of the working poor have access to insurance through other state programs.
